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Theses and Dissertations

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Enters Albania, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Enters Albania,

1992-1999 1992-1999

Nathan D. Pali Brigham Young University - Provo

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THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

ENTERS ALBANIA, 1992-1999

by

Nathan Pali

A thesis submitted to the faculty of

Brigham Young University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Masters of Arts

Department of Religious Education

Brigham Young University

December 2008

2

Copyright © 2008 Nathan Pali

All Rights Reserved

3

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

GRADUATE COMMITTEE APPROVAL

of a thesis submitted by

Nathan Pali

This thesis has been read by each member of the following graduate committee and by

majority vote has been found to be satisfactory.

Date Richard Cowan, Chair

Date Reid Neilson

Date Spencer Fluhman

4

As chair of the candidate‟s graduate committee, I have read the thesis of Nathan Pali in

its final form and have found that (1) its format, citations, and bibliographical style are

consistent and acceptable and fulfill university and department style requirements; (2) its

illustrative materials including figures, tables, and charts are in place; and (3) the final

manuscript is satisfactory to the graduate committee and is ready for submission to the

university library.

Date Richard Cowan

Chair, Graduate Committee

Accepted for the Department

Clyde Williams

Accepted for the College

Date Terry Ball

Date

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY

5

ABSTRACT

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

ENTERS ALBANIA, 1992-1999

Nathan Pali

Department of Religious Education

Master of Arts

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entered Albania in 1992. Albania

was a unique and difficult place to establish the LDS Church. Under the communist

dictatorship of Enver Hoxha religion was systematically eliminated from Albania and

replaced with atheism. Additionally, missionaries were twice evacuated in the first

decade in the country and the Book of Mormon was not available in Albanian until 1999.

Despite these setbacks the LDS Church grew at a steady rate in Albania due to native

Albanian interest and individual attention by missionaries.

6

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would first like to thank my wife, Kristen for all of her support. She has been patient

and supportive. She was my first reader and editor and her insights were invaluable. I am

sincerely grateful for her love and support. I love you. I would also like to thank Tucker Boyle

for taking the time to read and edit this work. Likewise, Christopher Phillip‟s edits were valuable

and his insights into the history of the Church in Albania were important and useful. Brother

Cowan was a great help as my chair and helped build my excitement about this work. Finally, I

would like to express my gratitude to my grandfather Pandi Pali for leaving Albania as a boy and

joining the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That decision has impacted my life in a

million different ways.

7

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ALBANIA ................................................................. 10

Introduction and Outline ........................................................................................................... 10

History....................................................................................................................................... 11

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 15

CHAPTER TWO: COMMUNISM CRUSHES RELIGION ........................................................ 17

Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 17

Establishment of Communism .................................................................................................. 18

Hoxha Crushes Religion ........................................................................................................... 19

Switching Loyalties .................................................................................................................. 23

Renewed Religious Persecution ................................................................................................ 27

Further Effects of Communism ................................................................................................ 31

The End of Communism ........................................................................................................... 37

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 41

CHAPTER THREE: THE CHURCH ENTERS ALBANIA ........................................................ 43

Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 43

Negotiating to Enter Albania .................................................................................................... 44

Humanitarian Missionaries ....................................................................................................... 46

Arrival of Full-Time Teaching Missionaries ............................................................................ 51

Growth ...................................................................................................................................... 54

Dedication of Albania ............................................................................................................... 61

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 64

CHAPTER FOUR: EVACUATION ............................................................................................ 68

Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 68

Economic Collapse ................................................................................................................... 69

Uprising..................................................................................................................................... 73

Missionary Evacuation.............................................................................................................. 75

Further Chaos in Albania .......................................................................................................... 86

Missionaries Return .................................................................................................................. 88

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 96

CHAPTER FIVE: TERRORISM AND TRANSLATION ........................................................... 99

Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 99

8

Terrorism and Albania .............................................................................................................. 99

Missionaries Again Evacuated ................................................................................................ 102

Returning to Albania ............................................................................................................... 105

Refugees Flood Albania .......................................................................................................... 106

The Book of Mormon in Albanian.......................................................................................... 107

Translation of Temple Ceremonies ......................................................................................... 111

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 113

CHAPTER SIX: JOINING THE LDS CHURCH ...................................................................... 115

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 115

Elimination of Religion........................................................................................................... 115

Covert Religious Instruction ................................................................................................... 119

Meeting the Missionaries ........................................................................................................ 121

Spiritual Experiences .............................................................................................................. 124

Peace ....................................................................................................................................... 125

Social Networks ...................................................................................................................... 129

Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 132

CHAPTER SEVEN: EPILOUGE ............................................................................................... 134

Growth .................................................................................................................................... 134

Challenges ............................................................................................................................... 136

Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 137

WORKS CITED ......................................................................................................................... 140

Articles .................................................................................................................................... 140

Books ...................................................................................................................................... 141

Manuscripts ............................................................................................................................. 143

10

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION TO ALBANIA

Introduction and Outline

Albania was a difficult place to establish The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints.1 It has a history of government sponsored atheism, the economy was one of the worst in

Europe and there was almost continually some form of upheaval within the country and

surrounding region. However, since entering Albania, the LDS Church has grown steadily and

consistently, outpacing growth in all its European neighbors. This steady growth stems from the

context in which Albanians lived and the manner in which LDS missionaries worked. The

Albanian context, filled with communism, atheism, poverty, and war, created a chaotic and

unstable situation for most Albanians. After the fall of communism, many Albanians turned to

religion to provide a sense of peace and direction for their lives. For some Albanians the LDS

Church provided access to the stability they sought. The LDS missionaries worked to create trust

and interest in Albanians by forming strong social relationships. These relationships were

initiated with humanitarian service and expanded as LDS missionaries learned the Albanian

language and taught on an individual and family basis. These relationships fostered trust,

spiritual experiences, and consistent conversions among Albanians. The following account will

include a brief history of Albania, a detailed account of their struggles under communism, a

description of the establishment of the LDS Church in Albania from 1992-1999, and a depiction

of how the Church and individuals fared through economic collapse, civil upheaval, and

missionary evacuations.

1 In 1935 my grandfather left Albania at the age of nine with his mother to join his father in

11

History

Albania is located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea just north of Greece. Macedonia shares

a border on the east, Serbia on the northeast, and Montenegro sits almost directly north. The heel

of the boot of Italy lies to the west across the Adriatic Sea. Almost 80 percent of Albania‟s land

is rocky mountains and hills, most of which are over two hundred meters above sea level.2 The

weather is rather moderate with hot summers and mild winters depending on the altitude.3 Of the

forty-seven modern languages developing from an Indo-European base, only two languages,

Albanian and Armenia derive directly from Indo-European with no intermediary linguistic

parent, making Albanian a unique and difficult language.4

Even though Albanians are culturally ancient and almost homogeneous in heritage, they

were slow to create their own country. The mountains and poor internal transportation system

contributed to Albanians maintaining themselves separate in clans. Historically these clans have

been organized in two separate subgroups, the Gegs in northern Albania above the Shkumbin

River; and Tosks in the south.5 Traditionally neither group has gotten along well with the other.

6

However, internal disagreement has not been the only hindrance in forming an

independent nation. Throughout history, ethnic Albanians living within the borders of present

day Albania were conquered and ruled over by one kingdom after another. The Romans were the

first in approximately 168 BC. As Roman influence in the Balkans waned around AD 395 the

Byzantine Empire filled the power vacuum and ruled Albania for the next hundred years (AD

2 Elez Biberaj, Albania: A Socialist Maverick (San Francisco: Westview Press: 1990), 3.

3 Ibid., 4.

4 Edwin E. Jacques, The Albanians: An Ethnic History from Prehistoric Times to the

Present (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company: 1995), 44. 5 Biberaj, Maverick, 9.

6 William Bland, “Albania After the Second World War,” Perspectives on Albania ed.

Tom Winnifrith (New York: St. Martin‟s Press ), 124.

12

395 – AD 489). Next came the Goths (AD 489 – AD 535), followed by the Byzantines again

(AD 535 – AD 861), then the Bulgarians (AD 861 – AD 1014 ), the Byzantines for a third time

(AD 1014 – AD 1204), the Normans for two hundred years (AD 1081 – AD1204), and finally

the Ottoman Empire controlled the area well into the modern era. In all of this time, ethnic

Albanians managed only twenty-five years of independence under the revered leadership of

national hero George “Skanderbeg” Kastrioti. In one of Skanderbeg‟s first victories he captured

Fort Kruja and there raised a banner emblazoned with the double headed eagle of his family crest

which is now used as the official flag of Albania.7

When Skanderbeg‟s “rebellion” was exhausted, the Ottoman Empire returned. Ottoman

rulers ingrained themselves into every aspect of Albanian life, including religion. This is seen in

the fact that Albania was the first and only country in Europe to become predominantly Muslim.

According to a census taken in 1945, 72.8 percent of the country professed to be Muslim.8

Before this conversion, the majority of the country was Christian, having converted during the

periods of Byzantine rule. Some truly believed and were converted to Islam while others joined

for the social opportunities that opened up with Islamic affiliation. For example, in the Ottoman

Empire Muslims were dhimmi, or protected persons. As a protected person a Muslim did not

have to pay the devshirme, or child levy, which took children from peasant families and turned

them into Janissaries, an elite body of soldiers created for the Ottoman sultan. Janissaries were

taken as young men from their families, circumcised, dressed in Muslim attire, and indoctrinated

into Islam.9 Muslims also fared better in court and paid lower taxes. Christians, on the other

hand, could not bear arms, wear certain clothes – including the color green which was sacred to

7 The history of the occupiers can be found in Jacques, The Albanians, 126.

8 Ibid., 447.

9 Ibid., 222.

13

Muslims – and they had to dismount horses when a Muslim passed. The Ottoman Empire further

exercised dominion over Christian churches by forbidding church bells on their churches and the

construction of new churches.10

In addition to repressing Christianity, at the close of the

nineteenth century, the Ottomans also campaigned for the destruction of the Albanian language

to help forestall Albanian nationalism.11

Albanians became an independent country in 1912, under the leadership of Ismael

Qemal. On November 28, 1912, eighty-three Albanians met at the Congress of Vlore and

formally declared Albania an independent state.12

At that point Albanians possessed a fierce

sense of national pride and a common language and heritage but were ill-prepared to become an

independent country. There was no constitution, no capital city, no currency, and an incredibly

poor infrastructure.13

Shortly after independence was established, President Ismael Qemal was forced to resign

in a complicated and conspiracy-ridden scandal which involved Turks marching across

Albania.14

The great powers of Europe quickly seized the opportunity and placed inept Prince

William of Weid on the throne of Albania in November 1913. William‟s reign was cut short

however when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 and World War I

began. At the first hint of danger, Prince William of Weid fled Albania and without a leader

“Albania became everybody‟s battleground.”15

Northern Albanians fought the Serbs and

10

Miranda Vickers, The Albanians: A Modern History (New York: I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd:

1995), 10-13. 11

Vickers, Modern History 45. 12

Ibid., 68. 13

Raymond Hutchings, “Albania‟s Inter-War History as a Fore-runner to the Communist

Period,” Perspectives on Albania ed. Tom Winnifrith (New York: St. Martin‟s Press), 115. 14

Ibid., 111 15

Vickers, Modern History, 88. My great-grandfather was one who fled conscription and

ended up immigrating to the United States of America.

14

Montenegrins and the central and southern Albanians fought the Greeks. At one point the Greeks

occupied all of southern Albania setting fire to forty-six Muslim villages and conscripting

Albanians as soldiers. Consequently a considerable number of Albanians fled the country.

During the war, Albania was occupied by Austria-Hungarian troops, Bulgarians, Italians, and the

French.16

In 1920 a volunteer Albanian army fought the Serbs, Montenegrins, and Greeks, and

drove them out of the country.17

After several successive and ineffective governments Ahmet

Zogu, gained power and ruled as president and then King from 1925-1939.18

As king, Ahmet

Zogu changed his name to King Zog. Though Zog did away with the crippling traditions of

blood feuds and the forced veiling of women, he did little to improve the country economically.19

Under Zog, Albania remained the poorest and least developed state in Europe. Illiteracy was

commonplace and the government was characterized by intrigue and assignations.20

With the

coming of World War II, Albanian independence was crushed by fascist Italy and later by Nazi

Germany. Throughout World War II, Albanian communist guerillas fought the Italian and

German occupiers. During this tumultuous period, Enver Hoxha (pronounced Ho-jah) emerged

as an acceptable “compromise candidate” 21

to lead the nascent Communist party. After the war,

Hoxha solidified his power within the Albanian Communist party and took control of the

government. He worked to isolate Albania and eventually made Albania into the first officially

16

Vickers, A Modern History, 89-93; and Pandi Pali, unpublished manuscript in the

author‟s possession, 1. 17

Bland, “Albania After,” 123. 18

Jacques, The Albanians, 379-382, and Bland, “Albania After,” 124. 19

Hutchings, “Inter-war,” 119. 20

Vickers, Modern History,101-118, 120. 21

Biberaj, Maverick, 17.

15

atheistic country in the history of the world. Following his death, Albania was the last eastern

European country to let go of communism and again allow the free practice of religion.

Conclusion

Albanian independence after World War II did not prompt the entrance of the LDS

Church. They were a small country without many citizens and a difficult language. Moreover,

they were the only European country which predominantly practiced Islam. Finally, centuries of

submission to foreign powers made the new communist government deeply suspicious of

anything foreign including religion. Following World War II it would still be fifty years until the

LDS Church entered Albania.

17

CHAPTER TWO: COMMUNISM CRUSHES RELIGION

Introduction

At the end of World War II, communist Enver Hoxha seized power in Albania and ruled

in Stalinistic fashion. Under his power, Albania became the first officially atheistic nation in the

history of the world. He endeavored to eradicate all signs of religion and an afterlife as he

isolated Albanians from the outside world. This system of enforced atheism and isolation from

western influences was intended to create a classless culture where the people were free from the

domination of rich landowners and capitalistic western powers. Communist leaders were

understandably suspicious of world powers at the time, for thousands of years they had been

pawns of foreign empires. Communist leaders were also suspicious of religious clerics. They

believed, rightfully so in some instances, that they were supported by the rich and were loyal to

western powers. Wealthy individuals were the ones who maintained clerics and as Catholics they

took orders from the Vatican in Italy, the Christian Orthodox religion had strong connections

with Greece, and the Islamic leadership in Albania was closely tied with Turkey. Additionally,

communist leaders believed that religion deluded the common people and siphoned off energies

that could be better applied to making Albania more powerful. Ideally, under communism the

people would have more control over their lives. Rather than gain more freedom under

communism, in retrospect, one form of repression replaced another. Hoxha and loyal communist

party members systematically created a culture dominated by fear and paranoia. By the end of

Albania‟s communist era, the party ideals had been replaced by an economically, culturally, and

religiously impoverished society dominated by an class of communist party members and

18

populated by citizens desperate for more freedom, money, and power, and in many instances

more religion. Many believed that religion would give them a sense of understanding of their

situation, hope for the future and way to cope with their present situation.22

Establishment of Communism

An interlude of Albanian independence under King Zog ended when Italy sent 70,000

troops to invade Albania in 1939 at the beginning of World War II. The Italians invaded Albania

in order to use it as an Italian colony and to expand their influence in the Balkans. As the Italians

invaded, King Zog fled and Albania was again occupied. By 1942, Albanians began to rally

under communist leadership and attack the Italians in small guerilla groups. Eventually, the

guerilla groups coalesced into a Liberation Army of 10,000 men which forced the Italians to

surrender in September 1943. After the Italians evacuated, 100,000 German troops stormed into

Albanian and took control of the country. By November 1944, the volunteer Liberation Army

forced the weakened Nazis from Albania and the communist party assumed control of Albania.23

Albanian communism officially began November 8, 1941 when several communist

groups met and formed the Albanian Communist Party (ACP). The ACP was the only

communist party in Europe that had not been created with the help of the Soviet Union. The

Soviet Union had little interest in Albania because there was no industrial class to participate in a

worker‟s revolution.24

Without Soviet assistance, Albanians held the first ACP conference in

March of 1943 and elected seemingly middle of the road “compromise candidate” Enver Hoxha

as their leader and general secretary.25

22

Grimci Family interview, August 11, 2008, recording in author‟s possession. 23


Vickers, Modern History, 150. 25

Biberaj, Maverick 17.

19

Surprisingly, this “compromise candidate” ruled Albania for forty-one years, longer than

any other person in Albanian history.26

Due to the length of his tenure and the long lasting

impact of his policies, Hoxha is arguably the most influential man in modern Albanian history.

As such, Hoxha has been remembered as everything from “the greatest son” ever born in Albania

to “a Communist tyrant as maniacal as any in history.”27

Today, most Albanians and outside

observers lean toward the second interpretation. As Albanian ambassador to the United States,

Aleksander Salabanda, referring to the dictatorship of Hoxha stated, “This is the part where we

suffered too much...it cost too much for what Communism brought to my country”28

As general secretary Hoxha inherited the daunting task of leading independent Albania

during a time when its citezens faced a myriad of problems. They were desperately poor and the

economy was severely underdeveloped. It was “easily the most backward country in Europe” at

the time.29

Additionally, 80 percent of the population was illiterate, 85 percent lived in the

country and industry accounted for only 4 percent of the Gross National Product.30

Hoxha Crushes Religion

Hoxha made matters worse for many people in these desperate times by taking away

religion. Hoxha justified the purge as necessary for the protection of communism. Hoxha wished

to create a classless society in Albania. In his classless society, not only economic classifications

needed to be eliminated but also religious ones.31

Albanian scholar Tonin Gjuraj, argues that

26

Ibid., 15. 27

Ibid., 15-16. and Kahlile B. Mehr, Mormon Missionaries Enter Eastern Europe (Provo,

Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2002), 267. 28

Aleksander Sallabanda “Albania U.S. Relations” (lecture presented at Brigham Young

University Ambassadorial Insights Lecture Series, Provo, Utah, October 26, 2006)

http://kennedy.byu.edu 29



Ibid., 447.

20

communist leaders saw “religion [as] a powerful counterweight to the state and sought to

eradicate all such competition.” He also argued that the eradiation of religion was a way for

Hoxha to put all Albanians under his absolute control.32

Eventually, Hoxha was able to accomplish his goal and create the first atheist nation in

the history of the world. Albania became known to members of the United Nations as “the worst

abuser of religious liberty in the world.”33

However, it took Hoxha twenty years to completely

crush religious liberty in Albania. Partially because 100 percent of Albanians professed to be

religious when Hoxha took power, 72.8 percent were Muslim, 17.1 percent Albanian Orthodox,

and 10.1 percent Roman Catholic.34

Additionally, the first Albanian constitution written by the

communist party on March 14, 1946 guaranteed Albanians freedom of religion.

Hoxha first attacked religion by preaching distrust of any religious authorities who had

ties outside of the country which was the case with all Albanian religions. Islam had ties with

Turkey, Orthodox Christianity had ties with Greece, and Roman Catholicism was associated with

Italy. Additionally, the Agrarian Reform Law of 1945 restricted the power of these religious

bodies by confiscating most of their land and redistributing it to peasants.35

The law gave

approximately twelve acres to each family, stripping all religious bodies, Christian monastaries

in particular of their estates.36

To further limit the power of religion, the regime of 1945 ensured that the curriculum of

schools was distinctly anti-religious. Priests were prohibited from teaching in any schools, even

32

Tonin Gjuraj, “ A Stable Ecumenical Model? How Religion Might Become a Political

Issue in Albania,” East European Quarterly, Spring 2001, Vol. 34, No. 1, Accessed

EBSCO Host June 6, 2008. 33

As quoted in Jacques, The Albanians, xi-xii. 34

Ibid. 35


Jacques, The Albanians, 450.

21

private ones. Lay people who retained religious inclinations attempted to fill the gap in religious

teaching by instructing children in private settings. However, that form of instruction was also

banned by the Ministry of Education in February 1947.37

1945 was also the beginning of

government censorship for all religious publications, even personal letters. All publications were

censored before going to the public in order to control clerical criticism of the state.38

As if

removing religious leaders‟ income, institutions, programs and freedom of action within their

own churches were not enough, Communist leaders also charged religious leadership with

treason. They accused Roman Catholic clergy of being beholden to Italy‟s government. As

punishment, church leaders were forced to clean streets and public bathrooms wearing clown

suits with signs which read “I have sinned against the people.”39

Sadly, this was only the beginning. After confiscating land, banning religious teaching,

and censoring religious publications the Hoxha government began torturing and executing

religious leaders to systematically eliminate any potential rivals to state authority. In 1945,

Hoxha ordered the Albanian Roman Catholic Church to sever ties with Italy, though its leaders

refused. Instead, they sent Fran Gjini, abbot of Mirdita, to negotiate the possibility of a continued

relationship with the Vatican. Instead of negotiating, government officials accused Gjini of anti-

Communism, arrested him, and then tortured him for a year before executing him on March 8,

1948.40

Gjini was not the only religious leader killed. Gasper Thachi, archbishop of Schkodra,

died under house arrest in 1946 and Vincent Prendushi, archbishop of Durres, died after being

tortured in a labor camp in 1949.41

In addition to these individual attacks, the government also

37

Ibid., 449. 38

Ibid., 450. 39

Ibid., 450. 40

Ibid., 451. 41

Gjuraj, “A Stable Ecumenical Model,”.

22

made group arrests and executions to eliminate entire religious orders from the country.42

For

example, when two leaders of political protest group called the Albanian Union used a Jesuit

printing press to print leaflets critical of the Communists, Hoxha executed the eighteen Jesuits

who let the men use the press. Additionally, in 1946, Hoxha ordered the execution of twenty

more Jesuit priests and imprisoned forty others, effectively eliminating all Jesuits from the

country.

Hoxha also used subterfuge to accomplish his purposes. On December 19, 1946, the

Ministry of the Interior found guns and ammunition in Catholic churches run by Franciscans. In

retribution, the Franciscan order was banned from Albania and all its property, including

personal clerical items, was confiscated and twenty priests were executed for storing the guns.

Later, in 1948 Pierin Kchira, a former lieutenant of the Shkodra (city in Albania) secret police,

was arrested and given a fifteen-year prison sentence for having too close of a relationship with

the Catholic Clergy. In his final statement, which was broadcast on national radio, he described

the arms raid on the Franciscan churches saying, “You commanded me to go at night to hide

arms in the churches and monasteries so you would have a pretext to eliminate the clergy and to

destroy the Catholic Church. I confess to the entire Albanian people. My personal disgrace is not

important.” At that point Kchira was interrupted and the radio transmission was cut. The judge

immediately changed Kchira‟s prison term to a death sentence and the latter was executed

without delay.43

While in prison, another catholic priest, Gjon Sinishta, gathered stories about torture of

religious prisoners. Some prisoners were forced into slave labor while others had their legs and

arms broken or received sharp shocks of electricity to their head and mouth. One man was drug

42

Jacques, The Albanians, 451. 43

As described in Jacques, The Albanians, 451-53.

23

behind a truck for twenty-five miles. Another Jesuit priest described how lacerations were made

in the flesh of religious offenders and rock salt was planted in the wound and then the wounds

sown closed.44

Known religious leaders were systematically eliminated through imprisonment,

torture, exportation, and execution. Of the ninety-three Catholic priests in operation in 1945 only

ten priests remained in Albania seven years later. Twenty-four were murdered; thirty-five were

imprisoned; ten went missing; eleven were drafted, and three managed to escape the country.

The Orthodox Church suffered in a similar fashion. By 1947 all Orthodox churches and

monasteries were confiscated and some like the St. George Cathedral in Korch, were bulldozed.

The Albanian Orthodox archbishop was arrested and tortured in 1949 and eventually died in

prison in 1958. The new head of the Orthodox Church, Pashko Vodica, was appointed by the

government. Vodica was a defrocked priest and an active Communist whose son was a

prominent member of the Central Committee. The Muslim hierarchy suffered less physical

persecutions but was forced into other professions as their mosques were confiscated and

destroyed.45

In the midst of this religious genocide, Hoxha declared that Albanians had religious

liberty. However, religious leaders were appointed by the government and the leaders were

mandated to promote communism in their programs.

Switching Loyalties

As Hoxha fought the “destructive” influences of religion within his country he also had to

face threats of national destruction from outside the country. The Yugoslavian dictator Josip

“Tito” Broz had Stalin‟s consent to dominate Albania. As far as Stalin was concerned, the Soviet

Union had “no special interest in Albania and that Yugoslavia was free to swallow Albania any

44

Ibid., 452-54. 45

Ibid., 455-57.

24

time it wished to do so.”46

American reporters at the time in the Saturday Evening Post described

the relationship with a babysitting analogy. Since the Soviet Union was busy taking care of more

important babies “dropped on their doorstep” at the end of World War II, they let Yugoslavia

baby-sit Albania.47

However, Tito fell out of Russian favor and lost his babysitting privileges. In June 1948,

Yugoslavia was kicked out of the Comminform (a Communist alliance) and Hoxha scrambled to

eliminate all ties with Yugoslavia and all Yugoslavians were removed from the country.48

To

solidify the separation, Albanian children tore pictures of Tito out of their textbooks and stopped

singing his praises in their songs and Hoxha denounced Tito as a capitalist and colonial exploiter.

Meanwhile, the Soviet Union sent planeloads of advisors to Albania and took on the brunt of

supporting economically weak Albania. 49

Along with Russian financial assistance and military guidance, Hoxha also gained an

opportunity to purge the country‟s leadership. The first to fall was Albanian government official

Koci Xoxe. While Albania was working with Yugoslavia, Xoxe worked to undermine Hoxha‟s

leadership. Without Yugoslavaia‟s protection Xoxe was arrested in November 1948 and in June

1949, he was tried, convicted, and executed by a firing squad.50

His execution was the first of

many bloody purges Hoxha would instigate in the next forty years.

The independence Albania gained with the fall of Yugoslavia came with the price of

increased dependence on the Soviet Union.51

In supporting Albania, the Soviet Union gained an

46

Vickers, Modern History, 170-72. 47

Ernest O. Hauser, “The Red Rape of Albania,” The Saturday Evening Post, November

26, 1949, 27. 48


Hauser, “The Red Rape,” 116. 50


Ibid., 175.

25

excellent port on the Adriatic for shipping and military operations. It also gained power over

Albanian banks and oil operations. Soviet advisors were placed in leadership positions

throughout the army and raw materials were shipped back to the Soviet Union.52

While enjoying

these benefits, the Soviet Union failed to improve the poor state of the Albanian economy.

Under the influence of the Soviet Union, particularly Stalin, Hoxha and the Albanian

Communist party opted for a centralized economic model, which emphasized the development of

heavy industry. In order to create an industrial base in a non-industrial country, resources were

taken from agriculture, causing food production to suffer. Attempting to fairly allocate food, the

government began using fixed prices and ration cards in January 1949. Following this

adjustment, the Albanian government embarked on its first five-year plan from 1950-1956. This

plan called for peasants to pool their lands and create collective farms. This, coupled with two

major drought years caused massive food shortages and during that time some medicines could

only be found on the black market.53

The Albanians suffered through these shortages and

rationings believing that things were not that bad. After all, according to Enver Hoxha,

Americans were so poor that they had to eat grass.54

Moreover, rationing and food shortages

were all part of the greater cause of protecting one‟s country from invasion.55

Albanian fears of invasion were not unfounded. From 1949-1952 the British and

American governments tried to overthrow Hoxha by parachuting military groups into the country

to stir up rebellion and overthrow the government. The American Central Intelligence Agency

coordinated the operation with the assistance of British agent Kim Philby. Problematically,

52

Hauser, “The Red Rape,” 117-8. 53


Christopher Phillips, interview by author, transcript, Pleasant Grove, Utah, 12

November 2006. 55

Daniels “In the Shadows,” 25.

26

Philby was a double agent for the Soviet Union and betrayed every group to the Soviets. When

each group landed in Albania they were caught and executed. Over 300 men died in this manner

during the course of the three year operation.56

By 1955 Nikita Krushchev had solidified his leadership over the Soviet Union and he

denounced the former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin for his cruelty. Putting themselves at

loggerheads with the Soviets, Albanian leadership continued to believe in Stalin‟s methods of

leadership and economic growth. Additionally, Soviet military campaigns in Yugoslavia meant

less goods and assistance for Albania. Consequently, Hoxha paid a visit to Peking in 1956

looking for a new source of revenue.

Following the visit Albania experienced some economic success from 1957 to 1959.

Known later as the “Golden Years,” serendipitous financial aid from eastern bloc countries and

China helped contributed to economic growth and improvement in general living standards while

malaria was practically eliminated. Moreover, in1957 the University of Tirana was established.

At the end of this brief golden era, Nikita Krushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, visited

Albania in May of 1959. Krushchev‟s intent in visiting Albania was to convince Hoxha to shift

focus away from his Stalinistic plans for heavy industrial development and center Albanian

economic efforts on agriculture, specifically citrus fruit production. Hoxha interpreted this

advice as an attempt to turn Albania into a “fruit growing colony” for Russia. Thus, Soviet-

56

Vickers, Modern History, 179; and Anthony Cave Brown, Treason in Blood: H. St.

John Philby, Kim Philby , and the Spy Case of the Century (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company,

1994, 421-22); and Philip Knightley, The Master Spy: The Story of Kim Philby, (New York,

Alffred A. Knopf, 1989), 159-161; and S. J. Hamrick, Deciving the Deceivers, (New Haven,

Yale University Press, 2004), 194-202.

27

Albanian relationships continued to deteriorate. 57

Two years later, December 1961, the Soviet

Union ceased all shipments of industry replacement parts to Albania.58

In his anger, Hoxha called Krushchev “the greatest counter revolutionary, charlatan and

clown the world has ever known”59

and with the help of a 125 million dollar loan from China,

Albania stubbornly rejected Krushchev‟s counsel and pursued their own course of industrial

development.60

In return for monetary support, China received the loyalty of Albania. At a 1969

Communist summit held in Moscow, when the Soviets and Chinese disagreed about policies,

Albania sided with China. At the summit Hoxha gave a speech that was so vehemently against

Krushchev that even the Chinese delegation seemed embarrassed.61

Following the summit Hoxha

never travelled publicly outside of Albania again.

Renewed Religious Persecution

With their new relationship with China, Albanian government officials became interested

in the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution which took place in China during November 1965.

In the revolution the Chinese Red Youth Guard eradicated all foreign influences including

Christian Bibles and literature. On November 19, 1967 Hoxha used the Proletarian Cultural

Revolution as a model for a law called Decree No. 4337 which took Hoxha‟s already fervid

campaign against religion one step further prohibiting all religious practices and imposing severe

penalties for any violation.62

57


Ibid., 188. 59

Ibid.,189. 60

Ibid., 187-88. 61

Ibid., 186. 62

Jacques, The Albanians, 88, 485.

28

Ironically, while Decree 4337 outlawed all religion, the Albanian constitution (chapter 3,

article 18) still guaranteed freedom of conscience and religion.63

Hoxha justified increased

religious persecution by arguing that religion “impeded social advancement.”64

The Albanian

government further argued that religion exploited the proletariat and that any religious rite such

as baptism was really a mask “to conceal [the church‟s] hostile political intentions.”65

Under this

decree, church buildings were converted into a variety of secular spaces. They became cultural

centers, theaters, gyms, dance halls, workshops, cafes, storehouses, barns, museums, and even

public toilets or bars. Others were demolished to make room for workers‟ apartments or parks.

Under this new law any form of religious worship or ordinance was strictly forbidden.

Under renewed persecution all outward symbols of religion were banned. One could

neither own nor distribute Bibles and Korans. Prayers, observances of holy days, fasts, feasts,

and festivals all became illegal. Religion was also taken from the dead as any religious symbols

were removed from tombstones.66

Additionally, the government did not want children to have

religious names, so they created a list of approved Albanian names which included names like

Marenglen, a mix of Marx, Engels, and Lenin and mandated that all new babies to be named

from the list.67

Meanwhile, Hoxha proclaimed that Albania was “the first atheist nation in the

world” 68

and government figures frequently paraphrased Vasa Pasha Effendi, a famous Albanian

poet, and declared that the new religion of Albania was Albanianism.69

63

Ibid., 488. 64


Jacques, The Albanians, 561-62. and Gjuraj, A Stable Ecumenical Model 66

Ibid., 561. 67

Vickers., Modern History, 196. 68

Linford Stutzman, “New Competitors for Hegemony: Western Evangelicals and the

Rebuilding of Albanian Civil Society.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Vol. 36, No. 1/2,

(Winter/Spring99). 69

Vickers., Modern History, 489, 559.

29

With so much pressure placed on outward atheism, an old practice was renewed. During

the Turkish occupation many Albanians pretended to be Muslims to gain favor with the Muslim

government authorities. In reality, many were pseudo-Muslims and crypto-Christians. This same

practice was used for Communism. Outwardly, some Albanians would feign atheistic

communism, but inwardly many would continue practicing their religion. Religion was not

eradicated; it was simply driven underground.70

Without priests and mass, Catholics found other

ways to worship. They would listen to the pope on the radio, say the rosary, and participate in the

sacraments at home. In many instances children were taught religion by their mothers, fathers or

grandparents. One son said his mother hid sacred artifacts in the Communist newspaper; another

said they hid a picture of St. Nicholas under a photograph of Enver Hoxha. To maintain secrecy,

the artifacts were only revealed on holy days or special occasions. Additionally, some Albanians

visited the Atheist Museum in Tirana not to celebrate atheism but rather to look at the replica of

the cross and remember Jesus.71

Evidence of underground religious practice can also be found in

the fact that keeping pigs had to be encouraged by the government because eating of pork was

forbidden for Muslims.72

However, not all Albanians were anxious to practice religion in secret.

Some actively tried to catch others practicing religion by offering them food during fast days. If

the person refused the food they would turn the offender over to the authorities.73

The lives of a few Albanians who later converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

day Saints illustrate the variety of religious practice which existed under Hoxha. Some like

Andromaqi Nano became accustomed to no religion because “it was the same for everybody

70


Ibid., 565. 72

Hutchings, “Inter-War,” 118. 73

Jacques, The Albanians, 567.

30

else.”74

Others like Eriola Gjini kept religion alive by secretly going to an old monastery in the

mountains to light candles.75

Growing up, Monika Kadi said that she did not know anything

about religion and was taught in school to criticize those who believed in God.76

Others, like

Alketa Pernaska, did not consider their parents to be atheists but they did not talk about religion

at home.77

Another eventual member, Blendi Kokona, gave fear as the major reason that people

did not discuss religion. People were afraid their neighbors would hear them talk of God and

report them to the police and the police would arrest them. If their neighbors did not knowingly

report them then their kids might unknowingly testify against them. In the elementary schools

teachers would describe religious practices and ask the students if they still did these things at

home. If the answer was yes then they would come and arrest the parents.78

Once arrested,

people faced terrifying interrogations and the threat of hard labor in prison or exile. If an

Albanian wanted to go to school or get a job they would have to write a biography about

themselves and their family. If there was a record of religious activity, or if one had a relative

that had been put in prison, exiled, or escaped the country, the author would have to record that

74

Andromaqi Nano Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2, The

James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 75

Eriola Gjini Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 5, The James

Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus

Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 76

Monika Kadri Kadi Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2, The



Alketa Pernaska Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2, The James



Grimci Family interview, August 11, 2008, recording in author‟s possession.

31

infraction. Any recorded infraction by the author or his family members or relations would deny

study or employment to the applicant.79

When Lindita Grimci wrote her biography to get into the university she neglected to

include that her aunt‟s husband had been imprisoned for saying “long live the king.” Since he

was not a blood relative she was not required to include him. However, when authorities found

out that she was related to someone who had been imprisoned she was immediately expelled

from the university. Only with persistent protest and proof that she had not known him was she

reinstated in the university. When she married Agim Grimci her “bad biography” was united

with his “bad biography.” Agim‟s mother was Italian and that alone was sufficient to suspect him

of spying for Italy. His mother never spoke Italian because people would listen through the walls

of their apartment and any Italian would have been interpreted as for subversive foreign

behavior. Even later in life, when Agim was a doctor and had a post on a military base, he was

constantly under surveillance. He was even followed on his hikes in the mountains to ensure that

he was not transmitting information to the Italians by radio.80

Further Effects of Communism

Religion was not the only crime the Sigurimi (the Albanian Secret Police) pursued. Any

perceived offense against Communism was sufficient for them. Punishments for non-conformity

were severe. “Citizens who dared, even remotely, to criticize his totalitarian regime were

declared enemies of the people, removed from their jobs and homes, and either killed or, with

79

Blendi Kokona Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2, The James



Grimci Family interview August 11, 2008, recording in Author‟s possession.

32

their families, sentenced for life to labor camps.”81

Some report that Hoxha killed tens of

thousands of his own people, warranting comparisons with Hitler and Stalin.82

Saim Kokona, an

eventual member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said that when he got a

postcard from a friend in Kosovo the government suspected he was spying for Yugoslavia and

put him under surveillance for nine years. This made Kokona afraid to write other friends in

Czechoslovakia. Also, his family would not write to an Italian friend who they protected during

World War II for fear of being accused of espionage. Kokona explained that if he had a foreign

visitor come to his home he was supposed to tell the government. Then the government would

send a member of the Sigurimi to come and pretend to be a member of the family and monitor all

that was discussed.83

A whole family could be exiled because one person in the family told an

anti-Hoxha joke.84

In essence, “Everyone [stood] hostage for someone else”85

and “walls always

had ears.”86

Albanians had to constantly monitor their actions for their own safety.

During the 1960s there was also a major push for women‟s rights. Though the condition

of women improved significantly and women and girls could travel alone without fear under

Communism, women‟s rights were secondary to Communist ideals. Hoxha accentuated this

81

Charone H. Smith, “Albania, a Labor of Love,” To Rejoice As Women: Talks from the

1994 Women’s Conference eds. Susette Fletcher Green and Dawn Hall Anderson (Salt Lake

City: Desert Book Co.), 152. 82

Thales Smith, “A Balkan Adventure: Humanitarian Missionaries in Albania” Journal

of Collegium Aesculapium (Fall 1994), 28 and Matt Wirthlin, interview by author, MP3

recording, Salt Lake City, Ut., 10 March 2007; and Matthew Thomas Wirthlin Oral History,

interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, Appendix 1-5 and p. 9, The James Moyle Oral History

Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Jacques, The Albanians, religious persecution chapters. 83

Saim Kokona Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 7-8, The James




Daniels, “In the Shadows,” 25. 86

Christopher Phillips, interview by author, Pleasant Grove, Utah, 12 November 2006.

Quoting the reason people would give him for practicing religion secretly during communism.

33

point in a speech given in February 1967: “The entire Party and country should hurl into the fire

and break the neck of anyone who tramples underfoot the sacred law of the Party in defense of

the rights of women and girls.”87

Women were allowed in the workforce and had similar wages

as men but their ability to gain recognition from the country lay principally in motherhood. A

young workforce was needed to drive the industrial based economy so women received

recognition for having children. If a woman had six children she received a Mother‟s Medal, for

nine the Glory Medal, and for twelve the Heroin Mothers‟ Medal.88

Increased rights for women were not the only advancement of the Albanian Communists.

Rampant illiteracy was eliminated with a law that made eight years of elementary education

obligatory for all.89

Moreover, Albanian medicine improved, creating a drop in infectious

diseases90

and a jump in life expectancy jumped from fifty-four in 1950 to sixty-seven by 1970.91

Albanian advancement under Communism came at the cost of terror, coercion, and

severe restrictions on freedom of religion and expression. Citing the banning of the works of

Albanian Poet Gjergj Fishta, scholar Miranda Vickers argued that under Hoxha, “Albania

became an excessively dull and barren cultural desert”92

where the party “crushe[d] every

aesthetic impulse of the people” and even the apartments blended together in blandness.93

Saim

Kokona, an eventual convert to the LDS Church, was a cameraman and director of photography

during the Communist era of Albania. He vividly described the hobbles placed on creativity at

this time. Saim detailed how the artistic movies that he created were political in nature and

87

As quoted in Vickers, Modern History, 194. 88

Ibid., 194. 89

Ibid., 199. 90

Biberaj, Maverick, 29. 91


Ibid., 200. 93

Daniels, “In the Shadows,” 25.

34

highly censored. His first artistic film was about two Albanian women who were caught by the

Germans and hung with a “thorny wire.”94

When the heroines died, Saim filmed the sky. The

censors questioned whether he was trying to portray that a heaven existed. In order to avoid

punishment, prison, or losing their jobs his crew had to go back and re-film that entire scene.

Another example of censorship occurred when a film didn‟t include a picture of Hoxha. The

censors would question the filmmaker‟s Communist loyalty and require them to include a picture

of Hoxha in their project. In the post-communist era, Saim rarely sees his films on Albanian

television because of the unpopular images of Hoxha that they contain.95

Albanians reacted to the oppression, censorship, and mind-numbing sameness with bad

workmanship, theft, and absenteeism from work. “Chronic fatigue, stress and boredom” were a

part of daily life. Exacerbating the monotony, Albanians were not allowed to escape these

conditions through vacation or emigration because travel outside Albania was strictly

forbidden.96

Moreover, religious persecution continued into the 1970s. In 1973, Father Shtjefen

Krti, at the age of seventy, was executed by firing squad for baptizing a child. The charge against

him was “subversive activities designed to overthrow the state.”97

By June 1978 China became more open to the world and made living conditions worse

for everyday Albanians. With their newfound global openness China no longer needed Albania

as an ally. Additionally, Albania was a constant economic drain, so China cut ties with them.

Fortunately for Albanians, though still poor, they had become self-sufficient in “cereal grain

production, oil and electricity” so they could subsist without China‟s help.98

94

Saim Kokona, Oral History, 5-6. 95

Ibid. 96


Ibid., 195. 98

Ibid., 203.

35

With its last protector and provider gone, Albania slipped into xenophobic isolation.

Isolation, according to party leaders, helped Albania maintain its national identity and

ideological purity, while China and others wallowed in wicked capitalism. During the 1970s and

1980s Hoxha cultivated a siege mentality among Albanians. Frequently he would refer to

Albania as a granite fortress under attack from a variety of outside enemies. Of these enemies,

Hoxha famously declared, “They will never catch us asleep, we will never be lacking in

vigilance, let everyone understand clearly: the walls of our fortress are of unshakable granite

rock.”99

To reinforce Albania‟s fortress status Hoxha built more than 200,000 cement bunkers

throughout the country for use in case of attack.100

After China left, Albania survived independently, but did not progress economically over

the next twenty years. Even fellow communists were shocked at the poverty in Albania when

they visited. Communists from neighboring countries would joke that “the streets of Tirana are

so clean because the Albanians have nothing to throw away.”101

Moreover, religious practices

were still condemned. Baptism and circumcision for example were declared health hazards and

some government officials called for the military to enforce atheism.102

Notwithstanding the

pressure, many Albanians persisted in their religious faith with small acts of defiance such as

cleverly arranging the TV antenna to look like a cross.103

Because Albania was so thoroughly isolated from the rest of the world it was not until the

early 1980s that the world began to take notice of their plight. To help, a radio station in Monte

Carlo began broadcasting chapters of the Bible at dictation speed in 1983. Also, Radio Vatican

99

As quoted in Vickers, Modern history, 203. 100

Sallabanda “U.S. Relations.” 101

As quoted in Vickers, Modern history, 204. 102


Ibid., 569.

36

for Catholics and Radio Florina for Orthodox broadcast worship programs early in the morning,

when the Sigurimi were less diligent in searching out dissidents. On March 7, 1983 a Delegation

from Denmark also assisted by presenting a report on the religious persecution of the Albanians

to the United Nations‟ Commission on Human Rights. In a separate UN report published in

1984, Albania was lumped together with Iran, Cuba and the Soviet Union as the worst offenders

against human rights. In the report the conditions in Albania were labeled “exceptionally bad.”

Following these reports the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and

Protection of Minorities stated on August 27, 1985 that the Albanian leaderships‟ actions

“constitute an affront to human dignity, a flagrant and systematic violation of human rights, a

disavowal of the principles of the Charter of the Unted Nations and an obstacle to the friendly

and peaceful relations between nations.” The official Albanian response in the principal

communist party newspaper was reminiscent of something from George Orwell‟s novel 1984.

They declared, “In the new Albania nobody has ever been persecuted for his religious

sentiments.”104

As the United Nations finally became more aware of Hoxha‟s actions, he died on April

11, 1985 at the age of seventy-six from diabetic complications.105

Albanians, including future

members of the LDS Church mourned his passing. One of them, Alketa Pernaska, said that she

and everyone around her cried when Hoxha died because she had lost something. Another, Ledia

Kita, said she cried because he was their leader and she had nothing against him. She said Hoxha

was handsome and when he talked on TV “it was nice.” Another member, Daniela Kita, cried

but she was not sure why. She thought it might have been because her friends were crying. She

also stated that she was a little afraid that somebody would say, “She is not crying. She doesn‟t

104

All quotes in this paragraph are from Jacques, The Albanians, 573-575. 105

Vickers, Modern History, 208.

37

love him” and then she would be punished.106

There were eight days of official mourning and

Albanians lined up for three days to see his body. Then he was interred in the Tirana cemetery

for martyrs of the homeland.107

The End of Communism

With Hoxha gone, Ramiz Alia became Albania‟s leader. From Hoxha, Alia inherited a

nightmare collection of administrational difficulties. For one, the economy was still weak and

inefficient. In some instances so inefficient that imported machines and equipment had sat

unused in dock warehouses for years.108

Economic thinking and general creativity were stunted

and the infrastructure, including transportation and telecommunications, was in shambles. Alia

attempted to remedy the situation in a variety of ways. First he encouraged writers, intellectuals,

and artists to be more creative and create public debate and even criticism. He also looked to

reduce the food shortage by promoting private land cultivation and animal husbandry on a small

scale. Alia even decentralized economic decision making to a certain extent, giving power to

local managers, even to fire employees who stole and implement systems of wage incentives,

powers previously unavailable to them. Alia had to battle hard-line Communist party

conservatives with every reform. In 1988 and 1989 Alia was discouraged when there was no

economic revival. Shoddy goods continued to be produced and the standard of living was

stagnant at the poverty level.109

David Binder, an American reporter, was allowed to visit Albania under Alia‟s

presidency. He said, “Having worked and lived in communist countries during the previous three

decades, I thought I recognized the face of destitution, but I was unprepared for its breadth and

106

See oral histories of Alketa Pernaska, Ledia Kita, Daniela Kita, and Saim Kokona 107

Monika Kadi Oral History, 8; and Vickers, Modern History, 209. 108

Biberaj, Maverick, 73. 109

Ibid., 79-83.

38

depth in Albania.”110

While there, an old Albanian told him a joke that illustrated the poverty, “A

man who catches a fine fish in Lake Shkoder and proudly brings it back for his wife to cook. She

says the stove doesn't work because power has been cut off. How about a fire? No coal. No

wood. In resignation the husband trudges to the lakeshore and throws the fish back in. The fish

leaps up and shouts, "Long Live the Party of Labor!"111

Though he fell short in achieving

economic reform Alia established unprecedented freedoms for Albanians. Albanians were now

allowed to hold hands in public and wear blue jeans. Girls could wear shorter skirts and men

could wear shorts. Men were even allowed to grow a mustache or beard both of which had been

discouraged under Hoxha.112

With the slightly increased freedom under Alia, Albanians became aware of changes

happening in other Communist countries and desired the same.113

In the spring of 1990 anti-

communist demonstrations and labor strikes were violently dispersed by the police. The violent

repercussions did not stop Albanians‟ desires for change. In July 1990 several thousand

Albanians sought political asylum in other countries by climbing over fences onto the grounds of

foreign embassies in Tirana. 5,000 Albanians were eventually granted political asylum and

allowed to leave under foreign protection. Another concession came on December 11, 1990

when the Central Committee of the Albanian government legalized the formation of other

political parties. Following the announcement, the Democratic Party was created and announced

110

David Binder, “Approaching Albania,” Mediterranean Quarterly Vol. 19 No. 1,

(2008), 67. 111

Ibid., 66-67. 112

Ibid., 72. 113

Daniela Kita reported that under Alia her father began to listen to the Voice of

America and she would always tell him to turn it down, afraid that they would get in trouble.

Daniela Kita Oral History.

39

the next day.114

The announcement came in the middle of a violent student led protests. During

one protest, students burned Hoxha‟s books and attacked government buildings yelling "Down

with dictatorship!" and "Liberty or death!"115

They said they were protesting because of food

shortages and a lack of reforms.116

Ledia Kita, a future member of the Church, was in college at

the time. She described being enlisted to participate in a protest. She said, “Somebody knocked

on my door and said „We‟re going to the street and tell the government that we need light; we

need water; we need heat.‟”117

The spring of 1991 brought continued chaos. Thousands crossed the border into Greece

without the fear of Albanian border guards or the former penalty of a twenty-year prison

sentence. Additionally, students participated in a hunger strike and thousands stormed the center

of Tirana and pulled down the giant statue of Enver Hoxha. In March 1991, 20,000 unemployed

young men commandeered ships from Albanian ports and sailed to Italy. Italians were shocked

that Albanians dressed in ragged 1970s style clothing and looked so hungry. For most

Westerners however, the Albanian evacuation was overshadowed by the concurrent Gulf War.118

Those Albanians who actually made it to Italy were not repatriated because the calculated cost to

send them back was too great. By March 1991, the Western press was wondering when the “last

bastion of Stalinism” (Albania) was going to fall. To the western world, the fall of Albanian

Communism was less dramatically covered in the media than the fall of the Berlin Wall, but to

Albanians it was just as important. Democracy was reinitiated in March 1991 when the first

multi-party elections in sixty years were held in Albania. The PLA (People‟s Labor Party of

114


Binder, “Approaching Albania, 74. 116


Ledia Kita, Oral History, 9. 118

Vickers, Modern History, 218-21.

40

Albania – the Communist party) won a majority of the 250 seats but the Democratic Party won

75. Sali Berisha, a Democratic Party member, won a seat in Durres and declared, “Morally we

are the winners. This is the real end of Communism in Albania.”119

On April 10, 1991 the new government created a constitution which included the right to

private property, the right to strike, demonstrate, and emigrate. Unfortunately, the new

constitution did not solve lingering economic problems. Inflation was at 260 percent per month

and 70 percent of the workforce was idle. Furthermore, a food and fuel shortage in late 1992 led

people to chop down trees which had been planted in King Zog‟s time and mob food processing

plants, bakeries and restaurants to feed their families.120

In this bleak economic and emotional context the Albanian government also

reintroduced the right to religious worship. The 1991 Albanian constitution declared that “The

state observes the freedom of religious belief and creates conditions to exercise it."121

Since then,

Albania has gone from the first officially atheistic country in the world to the country with the

highest ratio of evangelical Christian missionaries per capita in all of Eastern Europe.122

By 1992

the first missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined their evangelical

counterparts in Albania and began to have success. Matthew Heiss, principal collector of

Albanian oral histories for the LDS Church, commented on this success when he observed that

“In spite of the repression [Albanians had] a general longing for something beyond the material

world.”123

Years of religious repression in Albania did not crush religious yearning rather it

fostered longing for divine peace and spiritual hope.

119

As quoted in Vickers, Modern History, 223. 120

Ibid., 229. 121

Stutzman, “New Competitors,”. 122

Ibid. 123

Matthew Heiss Interview, August 15, 2008, notes in author‟s possession.

41

Conclusion

Four and a half decades of communism deeply scarred Albania. The movement was

initially seen by the revolutionaries as the best way to shake off foreign powers and colonial

oppression. Then it blossomed with the intent to further free the people from poverty by creating

a classless society which would work together, grow, and redistribute wealth evenly. To

accomplish their goal of classless society working together the communist government sought to

eliminate the distinction of religion from Albania so that all were seen as Albanians rather than

Muslims, Catholics, or Orthodox Christians. To some extent they were successful. A sense of

being Albanian became more important than any other social marker. On the other hand, Hoxha

did not accomplish many of his ends. The elimination of religion did not eliminate classes. It

simply shifted the marker from religion to party, and rank within that party. Moreover, the

elimination of religion did nothing to improve the wellbeing of Albanians. Albania continued to

be the poorest country in Europe, with massive infrastructure problems, and individual poverty.

Through devious tactics Hoxha and his supporters were able to eliminate outward signs of

religion but not inward manifestations.

43

CHAPTER THREE: THE CHURCH ENTERS ALBANIA

Introduction

As the dam of communism crumbled, religion rushed back into Albania. Islamic,

Catholic, and Orthodox Christian missionaries all quickly re-established places of worship and

contact with members in Albania. Though the years of communism were a very difficult time,

some, like scholar Arthur Liolin, have argued that years of atheism and other hardships prepared

Albanians to embrace religion. He stated that for Albanians “Religion often provides a grounding

certitude in a time of transition, vulnerability and uncertainty. When faced with economic

poverty, limited access to levers of power and emotional instability the individual perceives his

faith as an outlet for his aspirations.”124

Evangelical Christians quickly recognized this desire for

religion and began preaching in Albania as soon as they were able. Early on most evangelicals in

Albania preached in three main ways: they gave public speeches, distributed New Testaments,

and formed bible study classes. They found a measure of success following this pattern.125

The

LDS Church also entered Albania shortly after the fall of communism but followed a slightly

different format for preaching in Albania. This pattern, coupled with Albanian desire for religion

has led to steady growth in Church membership even in difficult times. Following established

LDS patterns, missionaries focused on creating meaningful social relationships with Albanians.

First they created an atmosphere of trust with through humanitarian service. Second, they learned

the difficult Albanian language in order to communicate without translators and third, they

124

Arthur E. Liolin, “The Nature of Faith in Albania: Toward the 21st Century,” East

European Quarterly 31, no. 2 (June 1997): 187. 125

Stutzman, “New Competitors.”

44

taught individuals with personalized care and attention. Once interested, many Albanians had

spiritual experiences and found emotional stability and comfort from associating with other

members. Solid social networks and spiritual experiences within the LDS Church led to

consistent steady growth in membership.

Negotiating to Enter Albania

Establishing the LDS Church in Albania began early in 1991 when Church leaders

recognized the political upheaval there as an opportunity to enter and establish a Church

presence. Elder Hans B. Ringger of the European Area Presidency had persistently attempted to

arrange for Church leaders to visit Albania, but all his requests for visas were consistently

denied.126

Beverly Campbell of the Church‟s Washington D.C. Public Affairs Committee had

more success. Working with the Albanian delegation to the United Nations, she arranged a first-

time visit for Latter-day Saint Church leaders to Albania.127

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, an apostle (one of the fifteen principle leaders of the LDS Church)

who was then responsible for Europe, and Elder Ringger of the Quorum of the Seventy (a

secondary ecclesiastical counsel) were the first to visit. They arrived in Albania in April, 1991, to

meet with government officials.128

During one of the meetings, an official stated that “The

government regretted its actions against religion and that it now welcomed churches back to

Albania. One official explained, „We need the help of churches to rebuild the moral base of our

country, which was destroyed by communism.‟”129

With that declaration, Church leaders and

government officials began to establish a plan for humanitarian service missionaries to enter the

country and assist in that process.

126

Thales Smith, “Balkan Adventure,” 28. 127

Mehr, Mormon Missionaries, 267. 128

Charone Smith, “Labor of Love,” 152. 129

Dallin H. Oaks, “Religious Values and Public Policy,” Ensign, October 1992, 60.

45

In October 1991 Elder Ringger returned to Albania with President Kenneth Reber

(Vienna Austria Mission President) and Lloyd Pendleton (welfare specialist from the Church

Area Office in Frankfurt Germany).130

They were warmly welcomed and directed to different

government ministries that would help them identify needed projects and expertise.131

As they

met with the Minister of Agriculture, Nexhmedin Dumani, he was quick to point out that there

was significant need for tractors. In fact, he requested that the Church send 200 of them. Elder

Ringger replied, “You‟ll have to get those from somebody with money. We don‟t have a lot of

money. We have a lot of goods and we have people but we don‟t have money.”132

Dumani

responded that “many people had come with promises, but nobody had done anything yet.”133

During this conversation, President Reber realized that there were practical ways to render

immediate assistance to Albanian agriculture. There was a soil research specialist and a

horticulturist currently serving in the Austria Vienna mission and Reber informed Dumani that

these men could be in Albania the following week. One week later, Theron Sommerfeldt (soil

specialist) and George Niedens (horticulturist) arrived in Albania.134

During their stay,

Sommerfeldt and Niedens assessed agricultural needs and made recommendations to help with

disease, insect and weed control, greenhouse production, animal husbandry, and drainage and

irrigation systems. As Presidents Reber and Ringger visited other government ministries they

130



Kenneth Dudly Reber Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1994, p. 75,

The James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 133


Ibid., 268.

46

found that Albanians also needed technology, health care, and business administration assistance,

along with English language instruction.135

Humanitarian Missionaries

Aware of specific needs, the Church called two senior couples to serve humanitarian

missions. Melvin and Randolyn Brady from California were the first to be called. Melvin was a

retired professor of Economics and Randolyn was an experienced teacher of English as a second

language and piano player. Thales and Charone Smith were the second couple called. Thales was

a retired pediatrician and former stake president from Utah and Charone was a registered nurse

and mother of seven children.

Following their calls, President Reber of the Austria Vienna Mission who was to

supervise the humanitarian missionaries went back to Albania in January 1992 to prepare for the

arrival of the two couples. He took with him a list of potential contacts from an Albanian refugee

Esat Ferra, who was living in Austria at the time. President Reber experienced difficulty trying to

enter the country without speaking Albanian. It seemed to him that the guard kept shaking his

head no when he asked to cross the border. Then a friendly Albanian explained to him that in

Albania head shakes mean the opposite of what they do in America and the whole time the

border guard had been telling him yes.136

After entering the country, President Reber found one

of the recommended contacts, Dr. Sulejman Kodra, Vice-Rector at Tirana University, who

recommended he contact Anastas and Sofia Suli for missionary living accommodations. Anastas

Suli was a child psychologist who spoke English and his wife Sofia was a pediatrician. The Sulis

135


Kenneth Dudly Reber Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1994, p. 76,


Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

47

offered to let the four missionaries stay in half of their home at no cost. A generous gesture since

they could normally rent to a foreigner at the rate of four hundred dollars a month.137

The Smiths and the Bradys arrived in Tirana, the capital city of Albania on February 17,

1992. The missionaries expected their visas to be waiting for them at the immigration desk, but

once they arrived the visas were not there. While in the airport they were closely watched by

armed guards while Albanian officials looked for their Albanian sponsor. The sponsor was

located, but unfortunately was in Greece at the time. Therefore, the missionaries were marched

back to the plane by their armed guards and sent back to Italy. Over the next two days, Church

contacts in Albania renegotiated visas and the missionaries returned to Albania. When the

couples neared the airport for their second time, the plane kept circling in the air. Wondering

why, they looked out the window and found to their amusement that the plane was delayed while

sheep and cattle were herded off the runway a testament to the poor economic conditions they

had been sent to help ameliorate.138

After passing smoothly through customs and driving through the city, the couples arrived

at the Suli residence and quickly became friends with their hosts. Even though the Sulis were

generous, the missionaries quickly felt the shortages that all Albanians suffered with. Charone

recalled that they “felt very much like [they] were camping out.”139

The water was generally cold

and came only three times a day, once from four to six a.m., then in the afternoon from one to

three and finally from seven to nine at night. Electricity was equally sporadic and heat was

scarce. In fact, when the sun went down the two couples would frequently go to bed and bury

137

Anastas and Sofia Suli Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 8,


Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Mehr, Mormon

Missionaries, 268. 138


Ibid.

48

themselves under blankets to stay warm during the frigid Albanian February. Melvin Brady also

felt the cold as he taught at the university, the windows in his classroom had all been broken. To

compensate he wore his pajamas and two sweaters under his suit every day. 140

Getting to know the missionaries, the Sulis were surprised when they learned that the

missionaries intended to stay in Albania for eighteen months at their own expense, especially

since the previous political election of April 1991 had been rather violent.141

The dean of the

Tirana School of Economics was equally astonished that Melvin Brady was willing to teach at

the university without monetary compensation for eighteen months. While there, Melvin taught

free-market economics and Randolyn taught English. Eventually, Melvin became the assistant

dean of the economics department and helped plan the curriculum for the coming year. In his

courses he addressed among other things, the meaning of a market economy, the role of the

entrepreneur, the role of government in a free enterprise economy, and the role of professional

mangers in business development. Melvin Brady‟s association with both the LDS Church and

Western capitalism in some ways made the LDS Church more attractive to investigators. He was

perceived as bringing economic salvation as an ambassador of eternal salvation.142

To improve

the quality of scholarship at the university he negotiated to get economic textbooks (in English)

from American universities. He was also able to procure money to purchase a copy machine for

the university from Italy.143

When the textbooks arrived, Sister Brady tutored some of the

economics professors in English so they could use the texts more effectively.144

She had fifty-six

140

Thales Smith, “Balkan Adventure,” 29; and Mehr Mormon Missionaries, 268; and

Melvin Brady Papers 1992-1993, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of



Melvin Brady Papers. 143

Ibid. 144

Suli, Oral History, 16; and Mehr, Mormon Missionaries, 270.

49

professors who tried to get into her first class. After a few months of instruction, she marveled

that she had been able to create a college level course with only a dictionary. She felt that it was

a gift from God which gave her greater clarity of mind to be able to teach effectively.145

She also

taught English to small groups and worked to translate a number of basic hymns.146

Additionally,

she began a young women‟s program within the Albanian LDS Church and enlisted young

women participate in service activities.147

While the Bradys provided an outlet for Albanian aspirations through economic

instruction and English acquisition, the Smiths worked to improve the quality of life for

Albanians by improving health care. They did so by working at the Dystrophy Hospital and in

the pediatrics department of the Tirana University School of Medicine Hospital. The Sulis were

concerned that it could be dangerous for Charone to travel to the Dystrophy Hospital and

counseled her not to go because a couple of days after the missionaries arrived, new government

elections were set to take place and the previous elections had resulted in violent riots. Charone

responded to their concerns stating that she was on a mission and that God would accompany

her.148

The Dystrophy Hospital was a center for malnourished infants. Of the eighty infants in

the hospital, most were brought there when they were three to four months old because their

mothers had run out of breast milk. Generally, the babies weighed less when enrolled in the

hospital than they did at birth. The conditions at the hospital were in Charone‟s words

“horrendous.”149

The facilities were old and the babies were so poorly cared for that the Smiths

145

Melvin Brady Papers 1992-1993. 146

Arminda Suli, interview by author, notes in author‟s possession, August 3, 2008. 147

Ibid. 148

Suli, Oral History, 9. 149

Charone Smith, “Labor of Love,” 154.

50

found themselves crying after their first tour of the hospital. Nevertheless, they quickly got to

work helping the children. For his part, Thales Smith created a nutritional baby formula out of

available materials which helped the infants begin to gain weight. For her part, Charone worked

individually with a small group of children. She loved them, worked their muscles and helped

them to socialize with other infants. Under her affectionate care they gained weight, developed

physically and began to smile for the first time. With her enthusiasm she also helped the weary

staff gain renewed energy and work more effectively.150

This not only encouraged hospital

workers but also was part of the initial attraction of many to the LDS Church. Their lives were

full of instability but Charone Smith seemed to model emotional stability and optimism.

While Charone worked full-time at the Dystrophy Hospital, Thales turned his attention to

the medical school hospital. Thales found the facilities better maintained than the Dystrophy

Hospital, but still well below western medical standards. There was no hot water, and the cold

water was inconsistent. Electricity was erratic at best, and the staff used an outdated twenty-five-

year-old Italian pediatric textbook as their only reference. To improve the quality of care, Thales

lectured twice a week at the hospital on current pediatric practices. Additionally, with the help of

interpreters he consulted with and taught the one hundred hospital doctors.151

While the Smiths and the Bradys were performing humanitarian service they created

friendships which led to interest in the LDS Church. When their acquaintances became interested

the missionaries would invite them to attend a weekly worship service called a sacrament

meeting held on Sunday. After six weeks in Albania, there were twenty to thirty people regularly

attending. The sacrament meeting talk, or sermon, was usually given by one of the four

150

Arminda Suli Interview. 151

Information about the Dystrophy Hospital is from Charone Smith, “Labor of Love,”

153-54 and Thales Smith, “Balkan Adventure,” 29-30.

51

missionaries on a basic element of LDS doctrine. Then they would invite those listening to hear

more on an individual basis. When time permitted, the missionaries would teach discussions

(basic lessons about the LDS Church) in the evenings to those who were interested.152

Arminda,

the Suli‟s daughter, was only sixteen when the missionaries began meeting in her home and

became one the people the missionaries taught. At first, she went just to learn about American

culture but in time, impressed with the missionaries‟ kindness and love, she became more

interested in their message.153

Her experience was fairly common. Though Albanians were first

attracted to the missionaries because they were American, the optimism and kindness of the

missionaries turned casual curiosity of the Albanians in their culture into active interest in their

message. Creating these strong social ties was the first step for the missionaries in converting

Albanians. By May 1992 there were several Albanians interested in learning more about the LDS

Church, but Elder Ringger counseled the humanitarian missionaries to be patient and wait for

full-time proselyting missionaries to arrive.154

Arrival of Full-Time Teaching Missionaries

The humanitarian missionaries did not have to be patient for long. The next month (June

1992) four young Elders (as missionaries are called in LDS circles) were called as full-time

teaching missionaries to work in Albania. They were Elders Matt Wirthlin, Paul McAlister, Beau

Jarvis and Mark Slabaugh. When they were called, all four Elders were serving in German

speaking missions. When the Church decided to send proselyting missionaries to Albania, they

asked certain mission presidents to submit names of obedient, hardworking missionaries, who

had demonstrated a proficiency in language acquisition, and who had been out less than a year.

152


Arminda Suli Interview. 154

Mehr, Mormon Missionaries, 270.

52

The European Area Presidency (three men in charge of a large geographic area for the LDS

Church) discussed the nominees and prayed for revelation about whom to send to Albania. Upon

receiving inspiration, they submitted the selected names for approval to the First Presidency and

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This was the first time that Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, a member

of the Quorum of the Twelve, learned that his grandson Matthew Wirthlin was selected to go to

Albania. The First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve approved the selection of the Eders

and the European Area Presidency extended the calls.155

Upon receiving the call one Elder

recorded in his journal that night, “I don‟t even know where Albania is.”156

On June 11, 1992, Elders Wirthlin, McAlister, Slabaugh, and Jarvis, arrived at the

Austria Vienna mission headquarters to meet their new mission president, Kenneth Reber. After

interviewing each missionary President Reber instructed them on the practical aspects of opening

a new mission including: food issues, economic conditions, finding apartments, and learning

local customs. From Vienna, the Elders flew directly to Albania on a Tyrolian Airlines‟ small

prop-jet plane with about eleven other passengers. To prepare for the coming adventure the

Elders spent the flight reading their scriptures and praying. During the flight, the Elders became

slightly bothered by a man smoking a large cigar in the back of the airplane. Elder George

Niedens, a senior humanitarian missionary then serving in Germany, was traveling with the four

Elders in anticipation of extending his mission with his wife to serve in Albania. He also smelled

the smoke. In response, Elder Niedens walked back to the man smoking and began a

conversation. During the course of their friendly exchange, Elder Niedens discovered that the

man smoking was Dhimiter Anagnosti, Minister of Culture and Religion in Albania. As the

155

Matthew Wirthlin, interview by author, MP3 recording, Salt Lake City, Utah., 10

March 2007. 156

Matthew Wirthlin, Journal, June 1992 – May 1993, 6-6-92, Archives Division,

Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

53

Church was established in Albania, Minister Anagnosti helped ensure a smooth transition. He

opened the way for missionaries to do street contacting and cleared up occasional

misunderstandings with the police.157

Contacting Minister Anagnosti was not the Niedens only contribution to the growth of

the church in Albania. When George Niedens arrived with his wife a month after the Elders, they

set to work building the kingdom. Sister Niedens taught piano and they both worked with a small

city outside Tirana to create a clean and consistent water supply. As an experienced

horticulturist, Elder Niedens also helped Albanians in their greenhouse plant production. They

befriended and taught several people and helped in the administration of the growing church. In

the words of Matt Wirthlin the Niedens were a “critical piece of the first year” in Albania.158

When the four proselyting missionaries landed in Tirana on June 12, 1992, they were met

by the Smiths and the Bradys who gave them a tour of the city. Initially, the Elders were

overwhelmed with the poverty. They were surprised that most of the roads were not paved and

were clogged with horses, buggies and sheep. They were also shocked that there were so many

beggars. Their apartment though, in the opinion of Matt Wirthlin, was better than many

missionary apartments in Germany where he had previously served.159

Once established in their apartment and injected with gamma-globulin by Elder Smith (to

strengthen their immune system), the Elders began an intense study of the Albanian language. It

was essential for the missionaries to be able to communicate clearly in Albanian so that they

157

Matthew Thomas Wirthlin, Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p.

5, The James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Wirthlin, Journal, 6-19-92;

and Wirthlin, Interview, 10 March 2007. 158

Wirthlin, Interview; and Mark Slabaugh, interview by author, 14 March 2007. Spanish

Fork Utah, notes in author‟s possession. 159

Wirthlin, Journal, 6-12-92; and Wirtlhin, Interview; and Wirthlin, Oral History, 5.

54

could further the relationships established by the humanitarian missionaries and clearly teach

about the LDS Church. Sister Brady had arranged for three Albanians to teach the Elders at

Tirana University. The university was old and not very well maintained. There were broken

windows, uncomfortable benches, scratched tables, and no air conditioning. Considering the

conditions, the teachers taught very well, particularly without the aid of any textbooks which

taught Albanian with English translations.

The missionaries would meet their teacher in the morning at the university and study for

a few hours and then take a break for lunch. In the afternoon they would reconvene and study for

a couple more hours. They would generally study Albanian six to eight hours a day, five days a

week. After the first day, Elder Wirthlin remarked in his journal that Albanian “is not an easy

language.”160

The teachers would rotate teaching and the Elders took careful notes and tutored

one another, especially when one would doze off in the suffocating summer heat. With the help

of their teachers and in their view the gift of tongues,161

the Elders were able to communicate

their basic message within two months. In the evenings, after studying Albanian, the four Elders

spent their time doing humanitarian service with Charone Smith at the Dystrophy Hospital or

teaching their message to the English speaking contacts that the humanitarian missionaries had

prepared.162

Growth

While the four Elders studied Albanian and performed service they did not forget their

primary focus was preaching the gospel. To accommodate all the people interested in learning,

160

Wirtlhin, Journal, 6-15-92. 161

Latter-day Saints view the gift of tongues as the ability to learn and communicate in

foreign languages more than they view it as glossolalia. In several places in his Journal, Oral

History and Interview Matt Wirthlin notes that they felt the power of the gift of tongues helping

them to learn Albanian quickly so they could teach the gospel in Albanian. 162

Wirtlhin, Interview; and Slabaugh, Interview; and Wirtlhin, Oral History, 8.

55

the missionaries decided to move sacrament meeting from the Suli‟s living room to a larger

venue, a rented room in the Palace of Culture in the middle of Tirana. Upon arriving there for

Church the first Sunday, they found the room they rented was given to the Socialist Party for a

meeting. Therefore, the Church was relegated to a room on the fourth floor. Though difficult to

find, investigators still came.163

As the four Elders terminated their day-long study sessions and began to preach in

earnest, it was not difficult for them to find new people to teach. In fact, the first day they walked

through the streets of Tirana fifty people approached them.164

As they contacted people,

Albanians were impressed that there were Americans who had taken the time to learn their

language.165

However, one difficulty in contacting was that some people just wanted to talk to

the Elders in order to be able to say they had met someone from America. To ensure that they

were using their teaching time well, the Elders tried to teach only those that were truly interested

in the gospel. The first step they took to certify someone‟s interest in the Church was to invite

them to church on Sunday. Generally, more than half the people they invited came. Once people

attended a church meeting, the missionaries would teach them more about the gospel on an

individual basis. Personal attention was important especially since teachings about God and

Jesus Christ had been minimized or in some instances eradicated under communism. Therefore,

the Elders spent a tremendous amount of time, compared with what they spent in other areas in

Europe, establishing a concept of God and Jesus Christ with each person they taught. For

163

Wirthlin, Journal, 6-21-92. 164


Slabaugh Interview.

56

instance, when Elders Wirthlin and Slabaugh taught the first missionary lesson to the Sulis, they

spent two hours explaining the idea of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.166

Though there were difficulties, after less than a month of preaching in Albania, Elders

McAlister and Jarvis committed Blendi Kokona to be the first convert in Albania. Blendi, like

many early members, came in contact with the Elders through the humanitarian missionaries,

illustrating the importance of using service to create strong social ties. In Blendi‟s case his first

interest in contacting the missionaries was to learn English. An acquaintance of the Smiths,

Astrit Basha, had told Blendi he would have the chance to meet some Americans and practice

English if he would come to a meeting held on Sunday morning. Blendi went and had no idea

that he was participating in a church meeting. He was just happy to be practicing English with

foreigners. Blendi commented to his mom that afternoon that it was a good meeting because the

missionaries had passed out some bread and water.

After sacrament meeting, Elders McAlister and Jarvis set up an appointment to talk with

Blendi under the statue of Skanderbeg in the middle of the city. As they talked and practiced

English the subject of religion naturally came up. Blendi, like many other young Albanians, did

not believe in Jesus Christ. He had tried to read the Bible in English but found it boring. To

encourage faith in Christ, the missionaries gave Blendi an Italian copy of the Book of Mormon

(Italian was easier for Blendi to understand than English there was no Albanian Book of

Mormon). When Blendi first read the Book of Mormon, he thought that it was an interesting

story and “really felt good about what the Book of Mormon had.”167

After reading, Elders Jarvis

and McAlister used a diagram to explain prayer and then invited Blendi to pray about what he

166


Blendi Kokona Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, 11, The James


Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

57

had learned. Blendi accepted the invitation. He knelt and prayed alone, with an open mind,

willing to receive a confirmation. His response came as a comfortable presence in his room and

he knew the things the missionaries taught were from God. He knew Christ was real and that the

gospel had been restored through Joseph Smith.168

Blendi‟s conversion illustrated how spending

time with each person to nurture them in gospel understanding helped them to have a personal

experience with the Divine and choose to join the Church.

After receiving permission from the European Area Presidency,169

Elder Wirthlin

interviewed Blendi Kokona on July 25, 1992, and found him ready for baptism.170

Later that day,

in the lobby of the Olympic Pools building, which ironically included an alcoholic beverage bar,

Blendi entered the two-foot-deep fountain to be baptized. In front of 30 people,171

Bledi knelt

down, and was baptized by immersion by lying down flat.172

Elder Wirthlin thought that “it was

a perfect baptism.” He said, “The spirit was very strong and I am sure no one will forget that

very important event for the Church in Albania.”173

While preaching, the missionaries found that they had more success with the younger

generation of Albanians. The older generation remembered past religious persecution too

vividly. They feared the return of communism and as a result unwilling to join a religion. Some

of the older generation who were not afraid of the government, were afraid of offending their

168

Blendi Kokona, interview by author, March 14, 2007, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in

author‟s possesion. 169

Slabaugh Interview. 170


Anna Charone Hellberg Smith Journal, 1992 – 1993, 7-25-92, Archives Division,

Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 172

Unless otherwise noted, the accounts of Blendi Kokona‟s conversion come from his

Oral History p. 1-14. 173

Wirthlin, Journal, 7-25-92.

58

ancestors by changing religions. In their view, their dead ancestors had belonged to other

churches and could not give them their blessing to join a new church.174

For those that converted, some of the most influential doctrines were the Latter-day Saint

understanding our relationship with God and the concept of eternal families. Elder Wirthlin

observed that the fact that we are actually His children, and that he is a personal being was very

powerful to many Albanians.175

This was illustrated the first time that “I Am a Child of God”

was sung in Albanian. The song was first sung in sacrament meeting in the rented room of the

Palace of Cultures. The 100 people in attendance sang with feeling and the Holy Ghost filled the

room. After the meeting, the Elders were cleaning and noticed a young woman crying in the back

of the room. When they offered assistance, she said she was alright. When the Elders persisted,

the young woman said, “Until today, when we sang that beautiful music, I never knew that I was

a child of God.”176

As the Church in Albania grew, most Church activities centered on baptisms. Blendi

Kokona reported that he went to the second baptism. Then he and the second person baptized

went to the third baptism. When there were twenty members, all twenty went to the twenty-first

baptism. The participation of new members in the baptisms of others expanded the LDS social

network from missionaries and converts to converts with other converts. In the first year, there

was a baptism almost every Saturday or Sunday.177

With such positive growth fostered by

individual attention and service, the missionaries began to train new members to care for the

church independent of the missionaries. Initially, the senior missionaries served in most of the

leadership callings or shadowed Albanian leaders. In fact, the first branch presidency consisted

174

Slabaugh, Interview. 175

Wirthlin, Oral History, 20. 176

Wirtlhin, Interview. 177

Blendi Kokona, Oral History, 17.

59

of Elder Smith (branch president) and Elders Niedens and Brady (counselors) with Blendi

Kokona (clerk). To further train new members, most of the new member discussions were given

by one missionary and one member. This provided the members valuable teaching and

fellowshipping experiences and the missionaries with a chance to give one on one attention to

new members and tutor them in the gospel and service.178

When members were given the

responsibility to talk or teach in church, the Elders generally helped them to prepare their

lessons.179

In all these things, the missionaries were careful to set a proper example. They knew

that everything they did, proper or improper, would be the precedent for all who followed.180

Under the careful guidance of the missionaries Albanian Saints were given the priesthood

and ecclesiastical stewardships. Blendi Kokona received the Aaronic priesthood on August 16,

1992. Three months later on November 25, 1992, he and Altin Galanxhi received the

Melchizedek priesthood.181

By February 2, 1993, there were enough prepared priesthood holders

to call the first all-Albanian branch presidency. Alban Vathi was called to be branch president,

Blendi Kokona was the first counselor, and Pirro Prifti was the second counselor.182

While

serving as first counselor, Blendi also served as the ward mission leader. This was a “baptism by

fire” which prepared him to be called as Branch President a few months later at the age of

nineteen, when the first Albanian branch was split in two. Blendi called Pandi Theodhori as his

first counselor and Elder Mark Slabaugh as his second. The involvement of Albanians in the

leadership of their branches facilitated strong ties between members which were essential in the

following years when missionaries were evacuated.

178

Ibid. 179



Ibid.; and Wirthlin, Journal, 11-25-92. 182

Wirthlin, Journal, 2-2-93.

60

During this time, Charone Smith was diagnosed with cancer. After returning to the

United States and having surgery in Salt Lake City she began her recovery. Many would have

honorably ended their missions at this time but the Smiths were anxious to return to Albania and

serve the people they loved. As a testament of this love, they returned to full service after only a

month and a half on December 18, 1992.183

While they were gone, four more young missionaries arrived from German speaking

missions in November 1992 to help expand the work.184

They were Elders Sternec, Atikinson,

Bott, and Melby. Each new Elder was put in a companionship with one of the four experienced

Elders. For the first month that the new Elders were in the country they went to the university

and studied Albanian in the mornings. In the evenings, they returned to their companions to do

service and proselyte.185

By March 1993, four more German-speaking Elders had arrived,

bringing the total number of prosyleting missionaries to twelve. With their arrival, President

Reber had enough manpower to expand the work and send missionaries to preach the gospel in

Durres the second largest city in Albania.

When President Reber received permission to open Durres, he asked Elder Wirthlin and

his companion to go on a fact-finding trip to the city of Durres, which was an hour away from

Tirana. When they first visited Durres, Wirthlin stated that he and his companion “were

absolutely led by the Spirit.”186

They sensed that this was the correct place for Church expansion.

While in Durres, they easily found a place to live and made friends with helpful government

183

Charone Smith Journal, 10-30-1992 through 12-18-1992; and Thales and Charone

Smith Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1995, p. 24-25, The James Moyle Oral

History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 184



Wirthlin, Oral History, 25.

61

officials. On March 8, 1993, four Elders were transferred to the city of Durres and began

preaching following the established pattern of service and individual attention. One of the first

people the Elders contacted was a man named Piro Dolani – head librarian at the Durres City

Library. Dolani helped the Elders contact people all around the city and also helped them to rent

a room for church meetings at the Durres Palace of Cultures. Dolani also introduced the Elders to

his friend Plarent Toci. Plarent‟s father was a famous archeologist in Albania who had excavated

an enormous amphitheater in Durres. After meeting the missionaries, Plarent was soon baptized

in the Adriatic Sea and soon served as the first branch president there.187

While walking in Durres one day, Elder Wirthlin and his companion were prompted by

the Holy Ghost to turn and walk down another street. On this street, a man stopped them and

pleaded with them to come and see his mother right away. The Elders complied and went to meet

the man‟s aged mother (nearly eighty-years-old). As they spoke with the mother, she told them

through tears that when she was a little girl her father had informed her about a reoccurring

dream of his. Her father explained that his dream meant that someday men would come to

Albania in white shirts and ties and bring the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Her father told her that

he would not live to see this time, but that one day those men would come to Albania. The

mother said that she had always thought her father was a dreamer but now she believed him. This

and other experiences impressed the missionaries that the Lord had prepared individuals even

during communism to receive the gospel.188

Dedication of Albania

With two branches of the Church well established in Tirana and another growing quickly

in Durres, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the quorum of the twelve Apostles came to dedicate Albania

187

Ibid. 188

Wirtlhin, Interview.

62

for the preaching of the gospel. Elder Oaks arrived with Elder Dennis Neuenschwander of the

Seventy and President Kenneth Reber on April 21, 1993. Shortly after arriving in Albania, Elder

Oaks met with the missionaries. He told them that President Ezra Taft Benson had asked him to

give each missionary a hug. So he enclosed each missionary in a “bear hug” which expressed

gratitude and recognition of their hard work.189

The missionaries were also grateful for the two

pound bag of M&Ms that Elder Oaks gave each of them. When given the chance to ask

questions, the missionaries asked why the Church had waited to dedicate Albania for the

preaching of the gospel. Elder Oaks responded that First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve

had “wanted to make sure that the blood of Israel was present.” Oaks then added, “Obviously

from the fruits of your labors, the blood of Israel is present and strong.”190

The next day, Elder

Oaks traveled to Durres and gave a fireside to twenty-five people with Elder Wirthlin translating

for him.

On Friday April 23, 1993, Elder Oaks dedicated Albania for the preaching of the gospel.

The dedication took place at the “Pallati I Brijadave” or Monument of Heroes Park which is

located on a beautiful hill overlooking Tirana. Many Albanian Latter-day Saints attended with

their families, friends, and other investigators. Blendi Kokona attended with his father Saim, who

filmed the event.191

When the group of Saints arrived at the monument, they found Elder Oaks at

the site preparing for the dedication. He emerged alone from behind the monument to address the

Saints. In his address he quoted Parley P. Pratt and said that it was truly “the dawning of a

brighter day” in Albania. Then the congregation sang “The Morning Breaks” by Parley P. Pratt

189

Ibid. 190

Wirthlin, Oral History, 21; and Wirthlin, Journal, 4-21-93. In LDS theology,

missionary work is not just an effort to gain new converts but also a belief that the linage of

Abraham was literally scattered throughout the earth and that those of that linage are the ones

attracted to joining the LDS Church, therefore his statement on the blood of Israel being present. 191

Saim Kokona, Oral History, 11.

63

and Elder Oaks began the prayer of dedication for the country. In the prayer, Elder Oaks asked

Heavenly Father to “bless this land and people.”192

He also asked that families would accept the

gospel and join the church as family units. Elder Oaks then promised that if the Albanian Saints

were faithful that they would be able to have all the blessings of the gospel, which Elder Wirthlin

interpreted as temple blessings. The final blessing was that one day Albanian Saints would have

The Book of Mormon in their own language.193

Elder Slabaugh commented that this event was

“absolutely the most spiritual thing that happened” on his mission.194

Blendi said that it gave him

“more perspective of what an apostle is,”195

and Elder Wirthlin wrote that it was “an once-in-a-

lifetime experience that will always be a highlight in my life.”196

They were not the only ones

touched by the event. By the end of the prayer many had tears in their eyes and were deeply

touched by the experience.197

As Elder Oaks traveled to other assignments, the missionaries and members worked with

renewed vigor to establish the LDS Church in Albania. As they worked, Pope John Paul II

visited Albania with Mother Theresa in April 1993. Charone Smith met with Mother Theresa and

received a silver medallion from Mother Theresa‟s order. Mother Theresa counseled Charone to

continue to “lessen human suffering” in the world.198

The following summer the first missionaries to Albania began to leave for home. Elder

Wirthlin departed in May – the first of the younger Elders to complete his two year mission. The

Smiths and Bradys left in August. They left the Church in the hands of capable, hard working

192




Kokona, Interview. 196


Ibid. 198

Mehr, Mormon Missionaries, 273.

64

missionaries and enthusiastic members. As they left, they were pleased to note an increased hope

and optimism in the members. In addition to the spiritual growth of the Church, the Smiths in

particular were excited that of the eighty infants in the Dystrophy Hospital under the care of

Charone, all but three had become healthy enough to return home.199

As these first missionaries left for home, Albanians began to leave on missions. Blendi

Kokona visited a zone conference for missionaries where President Ringger of the European area

presidency was speaking. As Blendi entered the conference, President Ringger was telling the

missionaries that one day there would be missionaries from Albania and pointed to Blendi. At

first, Blendi thought “no,” but after some time, careful thought, and prayer he decided to serve a

mission. Since he was a branch president at the time, Blendi was interviewed by Elder Smith

who was serving as the District President over the branches. Then Blendi was interviewed by

President Reber. A few weeks after submitting Blendi‟s mission papers, President Reber was

worried that it would be difficult for Blendi, an Albanian, to get visas. When President Reber

called Church headquarters to express his concern, Church headquarters informed him that

Blendi had already been issued a call. A short time later, Blendi received notification that he had

been called to serve in the San Diego California mission, a call he accepted and faithfully

fulfilled.200

Conclusion

The fact that the first LDS missionaries to Albania were American was one of the most

important factors in creating initial interest in the LDS Church for Albanians. In 1992 America

was the antithesis of Albania. It was democratic, capitalistic, and religious where Albania was

dictatorial, communist, and atheist. Where Albania was the poorest of poor eastern European

199

Thales Smith, “Balkan Adventure,” 30; and Charone Smith “Labor of Love,” 154. 200

Blendi Kokona, Oral History, 28.

65

countries America was considered the richest of rich countries in the world. Where America

wielded power on the world stage and English was the world‟s lingua franca Albania and

Albanian were almost universally unknown. America was a symbol of hope for Albanians.

Under the American model Albanians hoped to enjoy more freedom particularly in religion and

more wealth. The American LDS missionaries were a living symbol of this hope for Albanians

and they offered specific benefits for their association. The Smiths offered American knowledge

and training to improve Albanian health care. The Bradys offered capitalistic know-how and

access to English. LDS missionaries were not the only American evangelists in Albania but their

approach to preaching was unique. They distinguished themselves with systematic humanitarian

service in the beginning and individual attention after they were established. In their initial

experiences in Albania most American evangelical missionaries focused on public speeches and

group New Testament study groups, both mostly facilitated through translators. Contrastingly

LDS missionaries learned Albanian for themselves and focused on individual instruction.

Americanism served as an initial attraction for many Albanians to the LDS Church but additional

efforts to form meaningful relationships led to continued interest and conversion on the part of

Albanians.

Commenting on the establishment of the Church in Albania, Blendi Kokona declared

“We have a God of miracles.”201

The selfless service of the first missionaries piqued the interest

of many Albanians and motivated them to further investigate the LDS Church with the

proselyting missionaries which resulted in 147 people joining the Church by the end of 1993.

The initial growth of the LDS Church in Albania is evidence that consistent application of simple

missionary tools such as service, individual attention, and native language acquisition opens the

201

Ibid., 38.

66

door to the spirit and yields consistent growth even in the chaotic country of Albania. From 1994

to 1997 missionaries continued to utilize these tools and the Church grew to include 587

members.

68

CHAPTER FOUR: EVACUATION

Introduction

In February 1996 the magazine CondeNast Traveler included an article on Albania

entitled “Can Albania‟s Beauty Survive Freedom?” It proved to be an appropriate title

considering what would occur the following year. While visiting Albania for the article, author

Jason Goodwin made two observations that proved very telling. First, he noted that “Albania has

paid for its years of fierce isolationism: it is poor, poorer than anywhere in Europe.” Second, he

observed the sharp tempers and short fuses of many Albanians.202

The next year economic

instability lit those short fuses and armed insurrection exploded in Albania. As a result, the LDS

missionaries were evacuated. This slowed Church growth but did not stop it. In the midst of

chaos, many Albanians turned to religion in order to find something upon which to center their

lives. Throughout communism Albanians had little access to levers of power. They were to do

what the government mandated how they mandated it. With the advent of capitalism many

discovered new power through the accumulation of wealth. When the Albanian economy

collapsed Albanians lost this power. Though the LDS Church did not offer money to its members

it did offer support in troubled times. This support came in the form of missionaries who were

concerned for their welfare, they wrote to them on a regular basis while evacuated and upon

return visited them and helped them to cope with their problems. The support also came from the

202

Jason Goodwin, “Can Albania‟s beauty survive freedom?” CondeNast Traveler,

February 1996, 119.

69

organizational structure of the Church. Leaders and other members offered emotional support to

those who struggled during the collapse and subsequent uprising.

Economic Collapse

Albania has always been a poor country. According to one scholar, “The basic continuity

in Albania's economic history is poverty, constant for long periods at little better than subsistence

level.” Fifty years of communism did nothing to help their economic standing. At the beginning

of capitalism in 1993, “Albania had the lowest per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in

Europe making it arguably Europe‟s poorest country.” However, with the fall of communism

Albanians embraced capitalism and the guidelines established by the International Monetary

Fund (IMF). In fact Albania became known as a “model country.” It was the only Central or

Eastern European country that met all of the standards established by the IMF for developing

countries. From 1993 to 1996 the nascent Albanian capitalist economy began to grow, inflation

was contained, the GDP increased and unemployment decreased. Despite strict adherence to IMF

standards and promising growth, the Albanian economy and society experienced a catastrophic

breakdown in the spring of 1997. 203

In the period of economic growth from 1993 to 1997 there were three main sources of

extra income for Albanians. First, Albanian nationals, working mostly in Italy and Greece,

faithfully sent money to their families in Albania. Second, there was a United Nations embargo

in place against Yugoslavia. Some Albanians violated the embargo and smuggled goods into

Yugoslavia for a substantial profit. Third, Albania received a tremendous amount of aid from the

203

Michael Kaser, “Economic Continuities in Albania's Turbulent History,” Europe-Asia

Studies 53, no. 4 (Jun., 2001): 627, 630; and Dirk J. Bezemer, “Post-Socialist Financial

Fragility: The Case of Albania,” Cambridge Journal of Economics 25, no. 1 (2001): 1-2; and

James Pettifer and Miranda Vickers, The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans (New York:

I. B. Tauris 2007), 4.

70

European Union. Most of this aid came in the form of goods rather than currency but it freed up

earned currency to be used of in other ways.204

With surplus capital, the next logical step would be to invest the money in order to gain

interest or create an enterprise which would produce future dividends. However, Albania‟s

banking system did not provide a good outlet for investment because it was deeply

dysfunctional. The three existing state banks did offer real interest rates but the rates were small

and they had a large portfolio of bad loans which prompted them to impose tight restrictions on

credit access. In addition to the initial difficulty of loan approval, the borrower also had to bribe

the loan officer with a sizeable portion of the loan in order to be approved. The process for loan

approval illustrates that even under democracy and capitalism Albanians had little access to

levers of power. In order to gain access to power or to the person with power they had to use

bribery. With the process of legitimate loan approval difficult, Albanians began to seek for other

forms of credit and investment. Most met their needs for credit through family loans or informal

credit companies and met their desires for investment through pyramid schemes. To invest in a

pyramid scheme Albanians simply went to the market, found a pyramid scheme booth and paid

the scheme their investment. In a couple weeks or months the investor would then return to

collect his capital with interest. 205

Most banks or credit institutions use deposited money to make investments in growing

business ventures. Then they use the capital gained from profitable ventures to pay interest to

their investors. Unlike normal banks, the pyramid schemes in Albania did not invest deposited

204

Bezemer, 6. 205

Pettifer and Vickers, Albanian Question, 4; and Christopher Jarvis, “The Rise and Fall

of Albania‟s Pyramid schemes,” Finance and Development: A quarterly magazine of the IMF

37, no. 1 (March 2000); and Clarissa De Waal, Albania Today: A Portrait of Post-Communist

Turbulence (New York: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 215; and Jarvis; and Jason Hover, interview by

author, June 29, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in author‟s possession.

71

money into business ventures rather they paid investors with the money collected from

subsequent investors. There was no product. They simply moved money from one person to

another.206

Therefore, the only way to continue to pay interest was to continue to have investors

pay in. No surplus money was generated through business investments in which to supplement

they interest payouts. The only way for pyramid schemes to continue to pay interest was to

continue to have investors. Eventually, the pyramid schemes simply ran out of Albanians that

were willing to invest in their schemes and when that occurred they were unable to continue

interest payments.207

Albanians were attracted to the initial success and seeming stability of the pyramid funds.

Initial investors received up to 30 percent monthly returns on their investments and were able to

purchase previously unattainable consumer goods. Some investors were so successful they quit

their jobs and lived off income from pyramid scheme. One businessman reportedly lost sixty

employees in this fashion. Pyramid schemes provided a way to access power outside of the

structure of the government. Pyramid schemes leveled the playing field in Albania, factory

workers and farmers could access money in a way that was previously only available to high

ranking party members. Investor prosperity, though primary, was not the only motive for

investing. The schemes also had effective marketing and advertising strategies that ran on state

television. Furthermore, government officials gave credence to the schemes by frequently

appearing at company functions, the prime minister and speaker of parliament even accepted

medals of Honor from one company in November 1996. Several pyramid companies made

campaign contributions to the ruling Democratic Party and salesmen told investors that

government officials had invested their own money in the schemes. To newborn capitalists

206

Ibid. 207

Bezemer, 4.

72

pyramid schemes appeared to be a safe goose that laid golden eggs. At their peak in 1996 there

were twenty such schemes operating in Albania with regular returns of 30 percent per month.

Eventually two thirds of all Albanians invested approximately two billion dollars (one half of the

Albanian GDP) into pyramid companies.208

Early in 1996 the World Bank privately warned the Albanian government about the

precarious situation in which pyramid schemes had placed their country. When the government

did not respond they made their warning public. The IMF did not issue a warning until October

1996 when it was probably already too late.209

Neither the Albanian government nor the general

population heeded the warnings. Albania‟s president Sali Berisha paid no attention to the

warning and one government minister even argued at the time that, “The IMF wants to sabotage

investment in Albania.”210

Though most disregarded the warnings, some heeded and began to

withdraw their investments from pyramid schemes in Tirana. Predictably, the schemes did not

have sufficient capital to pay the withdrawals. This caused runs on the pyramids, panic and

protests. Some investment schemes suspended payments for 3-4 months and others lowered

interest rates but with no real assets these measures were insufficient to stop the eventual

collapse. After Christmas of 1996 protests continued and intensified in front of certain pyramid

offices in Tirana.211

On January 2, 1997 Albania‟s Finance Minister Ridvan Bode warned that Albania faced a

major catastrophe if these banks failed. Later, on January 16, 1997 the façade of pyramid

financial security was completely shattered. On that day, the Sudja operation, which was formed

by a Roma woman who claimed to be able to foretell the financial future by looking in her

208

De Waal, 214-15; and Bezemer, 7-8; and Jarvis; and Pettifer and Vickers, 4-5. 209

Bezemer, 8; and Pettifer and Vickers, 4. 210

Pettifer and Vickers, 5. 211

Ibid, 5-7.

73

crystal ball, declared bankruptcy. Other schemes followed suit and Albanians suspected that

those who declared solvency were lying. Thousands of Albanians lost everything. The story of

one Albanian, Zef, is representative of what happened to many Albanians. Zef worked in Greece

for five years and carefully saved $10,000. When he returned to Albania he looked for ways to

invest his money. He heard the arguments against pyramid schemes from friends but he also

knew people who were making money and so he invested $8,000 in a scheme. When the

pyramids collapsed he lost it all. Five years of hard labor disappeared.212

Like Zef, farmers were

left with nothing after they had sold their animals to invest in pyramids and many investors were

homeless after mortgaging their homes to raise funds for investment.

Uprising

In desperation, Albanians took to the street to protest and force pyramid owners to return

their money. When crowds protested in front of the Sudja headquarters, company officials

poured dirty water and urine on them.213

In an attempt to settle the situation the government

arrested leaders of pyramid schemes, refused to make payouts, froze pyramid bank accounts and

limited withdrawals. But it was too little too late. On January 22 protestors turned their anger to

government officials and took to the streets of Tirana shouting, “Down with the Berisha

dictatorship” and, “We want our money.”214

Tirana protests were violent but were mild

compared with cities in southern Albania. On January 24 protestors took over the city of

Lushnja. The local pyramid boss had been arrested and the people blamed the government for

taking their money so they cut off the railway line, set a police truck on fire, built barricades out

of wrecked cars, burned the town hall, wrecked a cinema, and beat up the visiting Democratic

212

De Waal, 214-15. 213


Ibid, 10.

74

Party Foreign Minister. Similarly protestors took complete control of the city of Vlora in the first

week of February.

President Berisha tried to squelch the uprising with force. He sent the army south with

tanks and even had the Air Force drop bombs on one rebellious southern city. He also gave the

SHIK (the Albanian Intelligence Service) free reign to make arrests, perform violent

interrogations, and shoot any violent protestors. Additionally, he authorized a dusk-to-dawn

curfew, media censorship, and roadblocks with car searches on all main roads.215

The show of

force did not overwhelm protestors because they were able to arm themselves. Arms depots,

stocked with small arms and ammunition were located throughout the country and every adult

was proficient in small arms operation. The weapons and training were left over from Enver

Hoxha who wanted Albanians to be able to fight off foreign invaders. Now protestors broke into

the depots and distributed guns to all who wanted them to use against the invading Albanian

army. Fully armed, Albania was split into factions of Democratic Party supporters in the north

vs. Socialists in the south and almost all Albanians vs. government officials. By March 13, the

Southern Socialists were winning more ground and support and armed insurrection spilled into

the North engulfing Tirana.216

By March 13, guns were everywhere. One group of people even went to smaller villages

and distributed guns and ammunition in order to ensure that no rural families were unprotected.

A fourteen year old boy who received a gun at the arms depot in Gjegjan, said that the man

handing out the guns was very responsible, meaning he was careful to show all the children who

received the guns how to properly use them. Newly armed, people raided food storage centers

and guarded their stores with machine guns. With food raids there were also violent robberies,

215

Ibid, 10-19. 216

Ibid, 20-41.

75

bus hold ups, and attacks on the police. Rioters also robbed businesses and hospitals, vandalized

schools and even stole wire from the phone lines further crippling their already weak

infrastructure. Worst of all blood feuds were revived in the chaos. For example the great-nephew

of a man killed forty years earlier was encouraged by his grandmother to get revenge. To get

revenge in a blood feud the person does not have to kill the original murderer just a close male

relative. So in this case he killed the grandson of the murderer. Others who were pressured into

such revenge killings by family members were so nervous they accidently killed bystanders

which set off a string of additional revenge killings.217

By the end of the last week in March,

government officials began to believe that they might be seeing the end of the Albanian state.218

They were not alone in this sentiment one student at the time described the feeling of the time

saying, “You can‟t imagine what it feels like to wake up and know that there is no government at

all.”219

In confirmation of their fears an Albanian Newspaper wrote during the chaos, “For the

moment just assume Albania doesn‟t exist.”220

Missionary Evacuation

In the midst of such chaos, LDS missionaries worked in peace. One Elder even remarked,

“Life was fairly normal” in the beginning of March. Many people were joining the Church and

the mission was preparing to expand by introducing missionaries into new cities.221

Though at

peace, the missionaries were not ignorant of the situation. Elder Jeff Sanders began to see food

shortages particularly of bread, which is an Albanian staple. At a small store near their

apartment, people lined up well before dawn to get bread. As the bread delivery truck pulled up,

217

De Waal, 218-222. 218


De Waal, 218. 220

Bezemer, 1. 221

Josef Szamosfalvi, interview by author, June 29, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in

author‟s possession.

76

people surrounded the truck. When somebody took some bread without paying the store owner

fired his gun into the sky to settle things down. Besides food shortages, the missionaries were

aware of the riots and the armed insurrection but they never felt threatened.

In a letter dated March 3, 1997, Sister (title used for female LDS missionaries) Heather

Corrigan commented on the financial collapse. She noted that “Almost every member of the

Tirana Second Branch lost money in the pyramid schemes but it seems to be strengthening their

testimonies as they‟re realizing what is truly important in life and are finding hope and peace in

the gospel.” She also commented that the government had set a curfew of eight o‟clock in the

evening. Then she concluded with, “It‟ll be interesting to see what happens.”222

Even though the

missionaries watched tracers fly through the air at night and heard the reports of fired rounds

throughout the day, most felt like Albanians were just having a war with the sky and maintained

their primary focus on preaching the gospel.223

They just kept working, serving, and preaching.

As the chaos continued, Laurel Holman, president of the Albanian mission, asked the

missionaries if they wanted to leave. Reflective of their love for Albanians, even in the middle of

armed insurrection, all the missionaries asked to stay. Despite their pleas to stay, the European

Area Presidency for the Church decided it would be best, given the intensity of the situation, if

the sister missionaries were evacuated.224

Though disappointed about being unable to stay, the sister missionaries in the port city of

Durres dutifully bought tickets for all the sisters in the mission on a ferry leaving the next day

(March 13, 1997) and spent the rest of the day busily contacting members and investigators and

222

Ethington, Tammy Maria and Heather Marie Corrigan Oral History, Letter, an

addendum. 223

Jeff Sanders, interview by author, June 18, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in author‟s

possession. 224

Christopher Phillips, “An Account of the Evacuation and Happenings Surrounding It,”

unpublished, copy author‟s possession, 1.

77

letting them know what was happening.225

That same day the United States Embassy in Albania

counseled President Holman to have his missionaries stay in their apartments and informed him

that they would contact him if anything changed.226

The next day, March 13, 1997, the sister missionaries in Tirana paid a minivan taxi to

take them to catch the ferry in Durres. As assistant to the mission president, Elder Josef

Szamosfalvi accompanied the sisters to Durres. To ensure safe passage, Elder Szamsfalvi, with

President Holmans consent, took the mission‟s petty cash to use as bribes, in case rebels stopped

them on the road.227

As the sisters in Durres waited for the others to arrive, they decided to get

out of their apartment briefly to take the garbage out to the dumpster. As they walked to the

dumpster, they noticed people running past them in a panic. When they asked somebody what

was happening, they responded, “The war has exploded!” The sisters dropped their garbage in

the middle of the street and quickly returned to their apartment. Safely in the apartment they

worried about the sisters traveling by van to Durres because they had heard that rebels were

blockading roads and commandeering vehicles. At noon the other sisters safely arrived and they

all traveled to the port. At the port they found that the ferry company, nervous about a repetition

of the mass exodus of 1993, which had sunk boats, refused to bring their boat into the harbor.228

Stranded, the sisters paid the minivan driver more money to take them all back to Tirana.229

On

225

Amy Nelson, “Operation Silver Wake or Albania – Days of Rage,” unpublished

manuscript, copy in author‟s possession, 4. 226

Holman Laurel Leroy Papers. 227

Laurel Holman, “Mission Historical Summary,” Albania Tirana, March 12, 1997,

Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

Salt Lake City, Utah, 2; and Josef Szamosfalvi Interview. 228

Nelson, “Operation Silver Wake”, 3-8. 229

Laurel and Louise Holman, interview by author, June 9, 2008, Provo, Utah, notes in


78

the way back, Sister Holman, the mission president‟s wife, found herself spending most of the

journey on the floor of the van out of fear of gunfire and bandits.230

That same morning the Elders in Durres went to the Church for district meeting. Shortly

after they started the meeting, the Durres Branch President came in and told them to stay put,

“because something was going on outside.” As they rushed to the window they saw “people

running everywhere kind of like in a horror movie”231

or the running of the bulls in Spain.232

Troubled by the increased chaos, the missionaries ran to their houses and called President

Holman to report the situation. The phone connection was bad but after a couple of tries they got

a hold of him and explained the situation. He said the situation was also chaotic in Tirana and

asked them again if they wanted to evacuate the country or stay: they reaffirmed that they wanted

to stay. For the rest of the day they stayed in their apartment listening to constant gunfire in the

streets. As two of the older missionaries played an Albanian language game to pass the time, a

younger missionary, Ryan Stewart, was not quite as tranquil and remembered thinking, “Am I

going to die here?”233

At two in the afternoon the government cut the electricity so that

Albanians would not watch what was happening on the news.234

That afternoon, Elder

Christopher Phillips reflected the thoughts of most of the missionaries, writing in his journal,

“Hopefully Albania can get things worked out so that the work can go on.”235

The missionaries working in Tirana also spent the day indoors. Elder Jeff Sanders and his

companion were in the stairwell of their apartment talking with their neighbor that day when a

230


Christopher Phillips, journal, March 13, 1997, 347. 232

Ryan Stewart, interview by author, June 26, 2008, Spanish Fork, Utah, notes in

author‟s possession. 233

Ibid. 234

Christopher Phillips, journal, March 13, 1997, 348. 235

Ibid.

79

hand grenade went off outside of their building. Needless to say they quickly retreated to their

apartment where they spent the rest of the afternoon. Even with gunshots and hand grenades,

most missionaries still did not want to leave. They were concerned for the welfare of those they

were teaching and serving and wanted to continue to help them.236

Nonetheless, President

Holman received instruction from the First Presidency to evacuate the missionaries.237

Obedient

to the instruction, he gathered all the missionaries serving in Tirana to the mission home and then

instructed the Elders in outlying cities to likewise report to the mission office.

Elder Rowell and Quinlin had just opened up the city of Elbasan when they were

informed of the evacuation. They had worked hard and had several people scheduled for baptism

and had arranged to perform the ordinance in a river near the city. Nevertheless, President

Holman called and told them to pack one bag and come to the mission home in Tirana. The next

morning they asked their landlord who was a taxi driver to take them to Tirana. However, since

Elbasan was between Vlora (the major rebel city) and Tirana, he was nervous about his car being

hijacked and told them he would not take them. Consequently, they left their bags at their

apartment and went to the center of the city where taxis and buses usually waited, but when they

arrived there were none. As they waited a van drove by and a passenger leaned out the window

and fired a machine gun in the air. With that, they knew it was time for them to leave the square.

As they were leaving, an Albanian approached them and told them that a minivan taxi was about

to leave on the other side of the square. After negotiating the price with the driver and bargaining

236

Jeff Sanders Interview. 237

Samuel Hobi, interview by author, June 25, 2008, Spanish Fork, Utah, notes in


80

to go back to their apartment to get their bags they traveled safely to the mission home in

Tirana.238

President Holman also called the missionaries in Durres and told them to come with their

bags to Tirana so they could all wait together. He wanted them to come that night but it was not

an option so they said they would be there as early as they could the next morning. At 5:30 a.m.

the next morning President Holman called again and told them to go to the port with one bag

because there were other Americans at the harbor waiting to be evacuated by ferry. As they

walked to the port around 7 a.m., they saw men with machine guns guarding sacks of stolen

flour. When they arrived at the port, they found out that American ferry had left half an hour

before they arrived. Not knowing what to do, they sat on the dock and watched people shoot

guns into the water, steal things off parked cars and break windows.

After returning to their apartment and contacting President Holman, the Durres

missionaries decided to gather with the other missionaries in Tirana. With the help of a local

member of the Church, they convinced a bus driver to take them to Tirana for twice the regular

fare. Along the way they saw more guns and more stealing. Since they were the last Elders to

arrive at the mission home, everyone in the small close-knit mission was excited to see them.

Now all together, they waited for the American Embassy to call and tell them how to evacuate.

While they waited, concerned parents called to ask why they had not yet evacuated. Finally,

President Holman contacted the embassy. They apologized saying they forgot to phone them and

explained that the missionaries should come to the embassy immediately with one bag and their

passport. Everyone assembled their things quickly, including the mission computer hard drive,

238

Michael Rowell, interview by author, June 24, 2008, Spanish Fork, Utah, notes in


81

and left for the embassy.239

The sisters got a ride with a former investigator240

and the Elders

walked the thirty minutes distance along different routes in small groups of three or four in order

to avoid attracting any negative attention.241

On the way to the embassy the missionaries saw

tanks in the middle of the city streets and heard continual gunfire. Some missionaries ignored the

direction to be discreet and stopped to take pictures of the tanks before quickly moving on.242

Once at the embassy, they passed through metal detectors and registered.243

Elder Hover

had accidently left his passport in Durres and was berated by an embassy official.244

Fortunately,

he found a photocopy of his passport in a suit pocket which was sufficient for them to let him

through. After berating Elder Hover the embassy official turned to President Holman and asked

“What other surprises do you have for me today?” 245

He told her just one and then informed her

that one of the missionaries he was trying to evacuate, Elder Jozef Szamosfalvi, was a

Hungarian. Elder Szamosfalvi had an American student visa but it had expired, so embassy

officials had to clear his exit with the state department, which would take a while.

While President Holman and Elder Szamosfalvi waited for evacuation clearance, the rest

of the missionaries took a bus a mile down the road to the embassy compound. The compound

looked, to the missionaries, like a little American suburb with small houses, grass and garages.246

At the compound, marines with guns patrolled the in full camouflage and face paint. Some were

even dug into foxholes or surrounded by sandbags. After a short wait, the marines helped the

239

Josef Szamosfalvi Interview. 240

Holman Interview. 241

Jeff Sanders Interview. 242


Samuel Hobi Interview. 244

Christopher Phillips, Journal, March 17, 1997, 358. 245

Wenda Louise Holman Journal, March 14, 1997, Archives Division, Historical

Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 246

Christopher Phillips, Journal, March 15, 1997, 350.

82

missionaries put on life preservers and helmets and then loaded them fourteen at a time onto

double-rotor helicopters. Once loaded, the missionaries sat sandwiched between gunners who

manned the open side doors ready to fire. After flying for just fifteen minutes some missionaries

were worried about where the helicopter was going to land in the middle of the Adriatic until

they saw the USS Nassau, an aircraft carrier designed specifically for helicopters.247

According

to the missionaries, the Navy was a model of efficiency and order in greeting and feeding them.

They were grateful for the good food and especially impressed with the cinnamon rolls and

availability of peanut butter. At the same time however, they were worried about the Albanians

they had left behind to fight over flour.

That evening all evacuees were scheduled to be flown to Italy, but there was not enough

room so Navy officers asked for volunteers to stay aboard. All the Elders volunteered. This plus

their clean appearance and optimism impressed those aboard the ship. The Boston Herald carried

this account:

There are some things that you can always count on, even in the midst of

anarchy and chaos in Albania. Like the neatness of Mormon missionaries”

U.S. Navy Commander Gary Burchill, supply officer aboard the USS

Nassau, helped take care of Albanian evacuees. He describes the people

that came on the boat. “The first group included 60 or 70 peace corps

workers. They were haggard and dirty, carrying backpacks. Then there

were about five families with children, who were very distressed and tired.

Then they brought in 30 to 40 freshly minted Mormon missionaries. It was

the damndest thing. They were as brightly dressed and chipper as you

would expect in your own neighborhood, they were wearing white shirts,

ties and pressed suits, like they were walking through downtown

Arlington.”248

247

Jason Hover Interview. 248

Jules Crittenden, “Evacuees Find Safety on Ship,” Boston Herald, March 15, 1997.

83

As it turned out the Elders did not have to stay the night because the Navy found a way to

evacuate everyone to Brindisi. The whole affair, helicopter rides, battleship tour and

complementary meal, cost each evacuee $450.249

When they arrived at the Brindisi Airport, the missionaries ate military rations and tried

to decide what to do next. While waiting, a man in the airport gave one of the missionaries, Elder

Gary Jensen, the phone number for the mission president in Rome. When they called the Rome

mission president helped them arrange for hotel rooms and informed them that some General

Authorities would meet them in the morning.250

At ten the next morning the missionaries began a

devotional by singing “Called to Serve.” As they sang, President Holman and Elder Szamosfalvi

arrived with Elders F. Enzio Busche and Neil L. Anderson of the European Area Presidency.

After the other missionaries had been evacuated, Elder Szamosfalvi and President

Holman went under a tree at the embassy and prayed that the government officials would clear

Elder Szamosfalvi for evacuation. Then they waited. At one point, Elder Szamosfalvi suggested

to President Holman that he could just stay in Albania alone and function as the Church‟s eyes

and ears, but President Holman immediately vetoed the idea.251

After a long wait, the ranking

embassy official decided to let Elder Szamosfalvi leave and attached a yellow post-it note to his

passport which simply read “let him go” and he was cleared for evacuation. As he and President

Holman were about to evacuate, rebels fired on the approaching helicopter. It returned fire and

the evacuation was postponed for the night.252

As they waited one of their main frustrations was

being unable to communicate with the rest of the missionaries. They did not know if everyone

249

Christopher Phillips, Bill from State Department. 250

Samuel Hobi Interview. 251


See U.S. Department of Defense News Transcript March 14, 1997.

84

was safe and were unable to inform the rest of the mission of their welfare.253

At four or five

o‟clock the next morning the helicopters returned and evacuated President Holman and Elder

Szamosfalvi directly to Brindisi Italy.254

They had arrived at the Brindisi airport early in the

morning and had no idea where the rest of the missionaries were. Officials at the airport told

them that half of the missionaries had gone to Rome and that there was a bus heading there now.

Feeling prompted to wait, they stayed in the airport for an hour and then Elders Buche and

Anderson arrived and picked them up.255

After a warm reunion between the missionaries and their president, Elders Busche and

Anderson spoke to the missionaries and told them that the First Presidency and Quorum of the

Twelve Apostles “had been personally concerned and very interested in [their] welfare” and

were praying for them.256

Following their remarks, the missionaries were taken to another Italian

town called Martina Franca, where each missionary had an interview with either Elder Busche or

Elder Anderson.257

After their interviews the missionaries were given permission to call their

families. Elder Phillips recalled that his parents were worried and that many friends and relatives

were also concerned. He also found out that the missionary department at Church headquarters

had called his family everyday to give them a report. After hearing all this, Elder Phillips

thought, “Wow I didn‟t realize that we were such a big deal.”258

On the same phone call his dad

told him that he was likely going to be reassigned to a mission in England. Sister Nelson‟s

253




Christopher Phillips, Journal, March 15, 1997, 353. 257

Nelson, Nelson, “Operation Silver Wake,” 13-14. 258

Christopher Phillips‟ Journal March 15, 1997 354.

85

parents also told her that the missionary department said something about being reassigned to

London and all she could think was, “I didn‟t pack for London.”259

The next day the missionaries were given new assignments. Elders Busche and Anderson

were careful to emphasize that “the First Presidency had personally reviewed and approved”

each call the night before. Sixteen Elders ended up staying in Italy, six in the Italy Catania

mission and ten in Rome. The rest of the Elders and all the sisters were sent to England.260

The

sixteen Elders who stayed in Italy were some of the older and more experienced missionaries,

while those sent to England were the younger Elders and all the sisters. Before heading to their

respective areas, all the missionaries traveled to the American embassy in Rome to receive

proper visas. While waiting in the embassy, they heard officials inform other Americans that visa

clearance would take at least six weeks. Fortunately for the missionaries, the Rome mission

president was well connected at the embassy and at his request embassy officials dedicated

workers to interview and clear the missionaries and they received their visas within a matter of

days. While waiting for their visas the missionaries were able to see famous sites in Rome, tour

the Vatican, and preach with missionaries in the Rome Mission. 261

After receiving their visas the England missionaries said goodbye to the others and

boarded their plane. Being split up was particularly hard for those sent to England because they

felt that, in a way, the Albanian mission was breaking up.262

Sister Heather Corrigan told her

family in a letter that she wanted to work as hard as possible while in England to accomplish

whatever the Lord wanted her to do there so that she could return to Albania. In another letter

she described England and closed her letter with, “P.S. this is the hardest thing of my whole

259

Amy Nelson, 14. 260

Ibid, 356. 261

Randall Wilson Interview. 262

Amy Nelson 16; and Ryan Stewart Interview.

86

life.” Eventually she and the other sisters settled into missionary work in England and began to

have success. The mission president in the Bristol England mission trusted Sister Corrigan so

much he sent her to open a new area; the other sisters were not at all behind in hard work,

obedience and success. Throughout their missions in England the Sisters continued to

demonstrate their love for Albanians by thinking about, writing to, and praying for their friends

in Albania.263

As insurrection was accomplishing nothing to restore their lost assets, it was

comforting for Albanians to have the emotional support of missionaries. As the government only

reluctantly responded to their desires under the duress of gunfire the missionaries offered support

through a solid social network simply because they were members. The missionaries that stayed

in Italy also had some difficulties as they learned Italian and began to preach with Italian

missionaries. They were impressed with the much higher standard of living in Italy but missed

the receptive Albanians and longed to return.264

Further Chaos in Albania

Though the missionaries were anxious to return and teach the gospel they were much

safer in Italy. Two days after they left, bullets fell from the sky all day long in Tirana killing 11

people and wounding another 150. Additionally, all the prisons were emptied in massive escapes.

Criminal gangs armed themselves with machine guns, missiles and tanks and Albania became a

transit center for hard drugs into Western Europe. To escape the turmoil, 10,000 Albanians

crossed the Adriatic to find refuge in Italy, including an Albanian jet pilot who flew his MIG to

263

Heather Marie Corrigan Stonely Correspondence, Archives Division, Historical


Christopher Phillips, Letter to his family, March 21, 1997; and unless otherwise noted

most of the history regarding the missionary evacuation can be found in Christopher Phillips,

“An Account of the Evacuation and Happenings Surrounding It,” 1-7.

87

Italy and asked for asylum. Three Albanian helicopter crews did the same. 265

In short, it was

safer to be outside of Albania.

During all of this upheaval, the countries bordering Albania did not try to annex any land

or enter Albania to restore order, rather they tried to seal the borders and let Albanians deal with

their own problems.266

Finally, in mid-April the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe and the European Union formed a multi-nation protection force named Operation Alba.

This operation was intended to strengthen the all-party government, restore peace, provide

humanitarian aid, and assist in preparation for free and fair elections.267

The troops from

Operation Alba quickly established peace, brought humanitarian aid and brokered a deal between

all the political parties and President Berisha to hold a new election on June 29, 1997. The

political campaign, though more peaceful than the uprising, was still chaotic. During the

campaign, someone tried to assassinate President Berisha with a hand grenade, Berisha‟s

democratic supporters regularly clashed with the discontented socialists. Additionally, Leka Zog,

son of the former king of Albania, who had only lived in Albania for two days in his life, was

campaigning for a referendum on reestablishing the monarchy in Albania with him as king.268

With the help of Operation Alba the elections went off smoothly. The socialist party gained

control of parliament, replacing the Democratic Party and Berisha. Leka Zog, whose passport

identified him as King of the Albanians, lost the monarchy referendum and was sent back home

to South Africa.269

265

Pettifer and Vickers, 37,44, 53, 55, 56, 90. 266

Ibid, 59. 267

Ibid, 60. 268

Ibid, 61, 80-2. 269

Ibid, 85.

88

Missionaries Return

While the politicians were campaigning in Albania, President Holman, now with the title

mission president in exile, worked in the Rome Mission office, helping to organize their

records.270

After nearly a month of exile, on April 11, 1997, President Holman, Elder Lester and

Elder Hess (both senior missionaries) were granted permission to return to Albania to gather

missionary belongings out of their apartments and evaluate whether or not it was safe for the

other missionaries to return.271

About one week later on April 19 Sisters Holman, Lester and

Hess joined their husbands in Albania.272

Meanwhile, Albanian missionaries felt like refugees in Italy and England. At first, the six

missionaries in the Catania Italy mission were frustrated with the situation. They did not speak

Italian nor did they know how long they were going to be in Italy. Moreover, the Catania mission

did not know quite what to do with them. Part of the time they stayed in the mission office and

helped with administrative duties and other times they were able to go out and help preach with

other missionaries. Early in their exile some Albanian missionaries learned how to say “Do you

speak English” and “Do you want a Book of Mormon?” in Italian and went out to public areas

armed with these two phrases and tried to be useful. Eventually these missionaries were put into

other companionships and worked in different areas around Italy and England. Though

separated, the Albanian missionaries continued to think about the friends they had left in Albania

and remained anxious to return.273

Like the sisters in England, the Elders wrote letters to

270


Holman Interview; and Laurel Holman, “Mission Historical Summary,” 3. 272


Christopher Phillips, interview by author, June 23, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah, notes

in author‟s possession.

89

members, investigators and the branch presidents in Albania to remind them they were loved and

to strengthen them during this difficult time.274

On May 6, Elder Christopher Phillips and Elder Josef Szamosfalvi returned to Albania

from Italy.275

President Holman had informed Elder Szamosfalvi that he was going to return and

asked him to choose one Elder to go with him. Though it was a tough decision, he chose Elder

Phillips for his experience, work ethic and love of Albania.276

Elder Phillips‟ parents received

notification of the reassignment from Elder Enzio Busche in a letter dated May 9, 1997 which

simply stated: “You probably have heard by now that under the inspiration of the Lord your son

was called together with an Elder from Hungary to go back to Albania. They have by now joined

their Mission President and wife and two other couples in that beautiful country.”277

Upon arriving, the missionaries immediately went to work. Their first priority upon

arrival was to care for and teach investigators and new members. In order to reach all the people

Elders Phillips and Szamosfalvi decided to divide and conquer. Elder Szamosfalvi was

responsible for the west half of Tirana and Elder Phillips was responsible for the east half of

Tirana and the city of Durres. Elder Phillips usually worked with President Holman and Elder

Szamosfalvi worked with Elder Lester. In the first days they visited the members and certified

they were in good spirits. In the following days they fell into a pattern. They would leave the

house as soon as they could in the morning, usually around 8:30 and then work throughout the

day, skipping lunch and coming home right before the government-imposed curfew. Elder

Phillips was impressed by President Holman‟s stamina walking all day in the heat. He also loved

274


Laurel Holman, “Mission Historical Summary,” 3. 276


Dallin Phillips, Letter from F. Enzio Busche, May 9, 1997, copy in author‟s

possession.

90

having all day to learn from his mission president. Usually during the day they would take care

of any administrative duties in the morning and then visit those who had been committed to

baptism by other Elders. Then they would visit recently baptized members and strengthen them.

Finally, if they had time, they would visit those who had recently stopped coming to Church. In

addition to their own experiences and commitment to the LDS Church, visits from the

missionaries helped Albanians to feel more secure. The visits let LDS members know that they

were not alone and that they were part of a large and stable social network when other networks

like the government and economy seemed to be collapsing.

The evacuated missionaries did the best they could to support Albanian members and

investigators in their absence but, the onus of support fell to local leaders. In order to help the

evacuated missionaries stay in touch with what was happening with their investigators in their

absence President and Sister Holman organized the first Albanian Mission newsletter to send to

them on May 8, 1997. The letter demonstrated the individual care that the missionaries had for

the Albanians by listing the names of investigators and reporting how each was doing. The letter

also included a section by President Holman who reported, “When we arrived back in Albania

we found all Branch Presidents magnifying their callings and doing wonderful. In every branch

we found many strong and faithful members and also many who had not been out since the

missionaries left.” 278

While the missionaries were evacuated the structure of the LDS Church

became important in maintaining activity among members. The LDS Church in Albania is

organized into small geographic areas called branches. Each branch has a presidency of three

men called to look after the members located in that branch. As the missionaries were gone the

men in these branches were in charge of visiting members and making sure they were okay and

278

Albania Tirana Mission, Newsletter 1 nol. 1, May 8 1997, Archives Division,


91

that they continued to attend Church meetings. To help these men all adult members are assigned

to look after individual members by visiting their homes, teaching them, and helping them in

difficult times. This organization created a safety net social network which offered support to

members who had lost their money in the pyramid schemes or who felt afraid during the chaos.

Although Elder Phillips and Elder Szamosfalvi enjoyed the work in Albania they were

anxious to have other missionaries return and assist them. To ensure it was safe for others to

return they would read the newspapers, listen to the news and talk to Albanians to see how safe

things were. Though there was still gunfire at night and even a bridge bombing in Tirana, the

missionaries never felt threatened. They eventually reported that it was safe for the others to

return.279

On May 16, Elder Didier of the Seventy arrived in Albania to evaluate whether more

missionaries should be sent back. Unfortunately, the night that Elder Didier was touring the

mission some election news triggered more machine gun fire than on previous nights. Elder

Phillips and Elder Szamosfalvi feared that because of the disturbance Elder Didier would not

allow other missionaries to return, but the next morning Elder Didier remarked with some

nostalgia that it reminded him of when he served in the military. Then he probingly asked each

of them if they really thought it was safe for others to return.280

With their affirmative responses

and his own evaluation, Elder Didier authorized the return of some missionaries and declared if

the situation became unsafe during the coming elections the missionaries could stay inside or, if

needed, be flown out for a week.281

279


Ibid. 281

Christopher Phillips Interview.

92

At his recommendation, eight more missionaries arrived from Italy on May 29, 1997, and

according to President Holman the work “just started right back up.”282

President Holman tried

to return at least one Elder from each area of the mission or at least a district leader who was

familiar with the area so the work could recommence smoothly. In many instances the local

branch presidencies were also involved in reestablishing contact with those who had been

interested in the Church demonstrating the importance of social networks in helping to grow the

LDS Church.283

Additionally, the missionaries reinitiated humanitarian service which included

helping in orphanages and hospitals, teaching English, and picking up trash around the city.

Since the Church was so young in Albania, the branches relied heavily on the

missionaries to teach lessons and organize meetings and activities. When they were evacuated

some members were apprehensive about what would happen to the Church without their

leadership. One even commented, “You can‟t leave us without the priesthood.” The missionaries

responded that the Albanian Saints had the priesthood and now was the time to rely on it. Even

so, some members thought when the missionaries were evacuated; the Church was also

evacuated with them and thus stopped attending Church. Overwhelmingly though, most

members continued actively attending their meetings and helping one another without the

missionaries. According to President Holman, given the amount of time and experience the local

leaders had with the Church, they did well. Missionaries helped bring some members back to

activity and helped meetings to run smoothly and then returned to teaching investigators.284

Though the evacuation and civil unrest created a rather unique context for missionary

work, curiously most missionaries felt that things were rather normal. In the middle of political

282


Michael Rowell Interview. 284

Holman interview.

93

chaos, missionaries simply focused on individuals and tried to meet their needs. Elder Samuel

Hobi had been a district leader in Tirana before the evacuation. Upon returning, he and his

companion had responsibility for a district which formerly had six missionaries. Elder Hobi

found that most members were anxious to get things back to normal, feel the Spirit, and help the

Church to grow. Investigators were also anxious to reinitiate contact with the Church. At the first

baptism in his area following the evacuation members packed the meeting hall to feel the Spirit

and support the newest member of their branch.

Elder Hobi noted that although poverty and suffering do not automatically lead to

humility, the situation in Albania provided many opportunities for Albanians to turn to God for

help. This combined with diligent and careful teaching on the part of the missionaries helped the

Church continue to grow.285

The Fifo family was an example of this model. They were interested

in the Church before the evacuation and maintained interest during the missionary absence. After

the missionaries returned the Fifo family decided to be baptized. They prepared for their baptism

by coming to Church, studying the Bible and becoming integrated in the social network of the

branch. One week before their baptism their daughter disappeared with her boyfriend. Her

parents initially did not know if she had been kidnapped or had left willingly. They later found

she had willingly left the country. This situation, combined with the chaos of upheaval and

missionary evacuation would have made it easy for the Fifos to give up on the Church at this

point. However, they used gospel principles that they had learned to successfully cope with the

situation. They prayed, studied the Bible, sought for counsel from ecclesiastical leaders and

continued to come to Church. Though they delayed their baptism for a short time they were

285

Samuel Hobi Interview.

94

baptized and continued to attend Church. The gospel, carefully taught by the missionaries,

helped them to cope with a series of difficult situations.286

On August 18, 1997 the second wave of missionaries returned to Albania from the Rome

Italy mission. While in Italy for almost five months most of the missionaries were able to learn

Italian rather well. Some observed that learning Albanian had prepared them well to learn Italian

because they had become so versed in language acquisition.287

While in Italy, some missionaries

worked principally with Italians, while others focused their efforts on Albanian refugees or on

immigrants (principally African) who spoke English. Though the missionaries were impressed

with the beauty and civilization of Italy (not to mention the fact they could drink water directly

from the tap and that the bricks were actually straight on the buildings) they were anxious to

return to Albania. In contrast with Albanians, missionaries found most Italians to be less

welcoming and investigators more difficult to find. Therefore, they were delighted to return to

Albania.288

The missionaries returning from Italy were put into companionships and everyone

returned to the work. For some it took a little while to get used to speaking Albanian again but

they were all excited to be back. With additional Elders they were able to reopen areas that had

been shut down and begin to find people to teach as they had before. The missionaries did not

feel that the evacuation inhibited their ability to teach. If anything, the economic difficulties and

social upheaval caused some to seek for something more substantive to help them.

Stavri Risto was one of those who was seeking for something more after the evacuation.

One morning as Elder Jeff Sanders and his companion were out working with a member family

286

Ibid. 287

Jason Hover Interview. 288

Jeff Sanders Interview.

95

Stavri spotted them and called them over to talk to him. He asked the missionaries, “Who are

you guys? . . . What are you doing here?” After they responded that they were missionaries for

the LDS Church and that they were teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ, Stavri asked them

when they were going to come to his house. The missionaries were happy to schedule to meet his

family that same evening. Unfortunately, somewhere between the morning meeting and the

evening appointment the missionaries lost the paper with his address. Doing their best to find the

apartment by memory, they found the building but did not know which apartment he lived in, so

they planned to knock on all the doors until they found the right one. However, the woman at the

first door they knocked on said “Oh you are looking for Stavri, he‟s next door.” Talking with

Stavri and his family, the missionaries learned that they were skilled and well educated. Stavri

had worked for the railroad and his wife taught French. To earn more money they had

immigrated to Greece and performed menial jobs, but Greece was unpleasant for them so they

returned to Albania and suffered through the economic collapse with other Albanians. After the

Elders taught them for six weeks, Stavri, his wife, and their two children were all baptized. They

felt that the gospel of Jesus Christ helped them to better deal with the economic crisis around

them. They were not the only ones. Many others resonated with the missionary message and the

manner it was presented and joined the Church.289

In May, June, July, and August, twenty-two people were baptized into the Church. Many

of whom had waited for the missionaries to return, showing faith during in a tumultuous time. By

September 24 the five Elders who had been sent to the United Kingdom returned.290

The five

Elders had been away for the longest time, almost seven months. During that time, similar to

other Albanian missionaries serving in the United Kingdom, Elder Ryan Stewart served in three

289

Ibid. 290

Holman Interview; and Laurel Holman, “Mission Historical Summary,” 4.

96

different areas in the Bristol England mission, with a variety of companions. In one area he

participated in a baptism and trained a new missionary. By September he had grown to love

serving in England and had essentially given up on the idea of returning to Albania. Late in

September his mission president called and told him that he had received a message from Church

headquarters which stated that if Elder Stewart wanted to go back to Albania he could. His

mission president emphasized that this was completely his decision and that either choice would

be acceptable. Having had a good experience in England and having forgotten most of his

Albanian made the decision difficult. Eventually, he and the rest of the Elders in the United

Kingdom decided to return to Albania. Randall Wilson also served in England. After six months

he was anxious to return to Albania where people were willing to listen to his message.291

Because there was still some measure of unrest, the Church decided not to send any sisters back

to Albania at that time. Upon returning, the five Elders were shocked by the poverty of Albania

but excited about the camaraderie among the missionaries and the energized by the growth of the

Church.292

Conclusion

During the whole process of evacuation and reestablishment, President and Sister

Holman were impressed by the missionaries‟ love for the people. They said the missionaries

“broke down” when they had to evacuate because they were so dedicated to the Albanian people.

Many missionaries pled to be allowed to stay declaring that they would be safe but they were

obedient to the evacuation orders. After the evacuation, even though the country was still

unstable, not one missionary had resisted returning. When it was time to return they all did so

291

Randall Wilson interview. 292

Ryan Stewart Interview.

97

anxiously. From September to December their zealous work and careful attention brought thirty-

three more people into the Church.293

The Albanians who joined the Church at the time were humbled by the economic

collapse and subsequent uprising and looked to religion both in comforting theology and solid

social networks for security they could not find in everyday life. As important as LDS theology

was in providing comfort for Albanian members in this chaos, social networks facilitated through

the organization of the LDS Church were also very important in attracting and maintaining

members in this difficult time. Missionaries perhaps did a better job at facilitating strong

relationships after they returned because they felt a greater appreciation for the privilege of

serving in Albania. In the midst of chaos, the missionary pattern of love, individual attention and

service helped seeking Albanians desire to join the Church.

293

Ibid.

99

CHAPTER FIVE: TERRORISM AND TRANSLATION

Introduction

In the movie “Wag the Dog,” Robert DeNero and Dustin Hoffman create a fake war in

Albania in order to divert American attention away from a presidential sex scandal. When

President Bill Clinton became embroiled in a similar scandal with Monica Lewinsky, some

thought he was “wagging the dog” when he launched a missile attack on terrorist camps in Sudan

and Afghanistan. With Clinton, the war was not in Albania but the situation affected missionary

work there, as missionaries were again evacuated. Adding to the chaos, shortly thereafter

Albanians were slaughtered in acts of ethnic cleansing in neighboring Kosovo. During this

pandemonium, the LDS Church continued to grow in Albania because of the love that was

shown to the Albanian people through humanitarian service and the much-anticipated

translations of the Book of Mormon and temple endowment into Albanian.

Terrorism and Albania

Since at least 70% of Albanians are Muslim, scholars have wondered, since the fall of

communism whether Islamic extremism would manifest itself in Albania. Most have come to the

conclusion that the old statement, “the religion of Albania is Albanianism” remains true. Since

national not religious heritage is most important to Albanians there remains little risk of an

Islamic state in Albania.294

However, in 1994 Osama bin Laden visited Albania as part of a

“humanitarian organization.” He also invested in the establishment of an Islamic bank in the

294

Gordon N. Bardos, “Balkan Blowback? Osama bin Laden and Southeastern Europe,”

Mediterranean Quarterly 13, no 1 (2002): 45.

100

Albanian capital of Tirana.295

Further tying the terrorist to Albania, Susan Sachs of the New York

Times, later reported that part of bin Laden‟s funding for terrorism came from pilfering money

from a charity for Albanian orphans.296

At the time of bin Laden‟s visits to Albania, he seemed insignificant but, in 1998, U.S.

intelligence agents linked him to the bombing of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. In

response, President Clinton ordered U.S. warships to launch cruise missiles at terrorist training

complexes in Sudan and Afghanistan that were linked with Osama bin Laden. The missile

attacks destroyed buildings and killed twenty-one people in Afghanistan. Unfortunately for

Clinton, the attacks came in the midst of the media circus surrounding his relationship with

Monica Lewinsky making it appear to some that the missile campaign was simply a distraction.

After the attacks, government officials including Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were

quick to warn “that there may in fact be retaliatory actions” from the terrorists. In confirmation

of this concern bin Laden himself declared to a London newspaper through a spokesman that

“the battle has not yet started.” 297

Shortly thereafter, American officials closed the U.S. embassy

in Tirana on information that there was an imminent attack planned.298

After the evacuation of

U.S. diplomats, the Central Intelligence Agency worked with Albania‟s intelligence service to

arrest members of a terrorist cell associated with bin Laden who were plotting to bomb the

embassy in Tirana. After their arrest, the suspects were sent to Egypt to stand trial.299

Following

295

Bardos, “Balkan Blowback,” 50. 296

Susan Sachs, “A Nation Challenged: bin Laden‟s allies,” New York Times, November

21, 2001, 1. 297

Richard J. Newman, Kevin Whitelaw, Bruce B. Auster, Mindy Charski and William J.

Cook “America Fights back,” U.S. News and World Report, August 23, 1998. 298

John Kifner,, “U.S. Removes Its Diplomats From Embassy in Albania,” New York

Times, August, 17, 1998. 299

Philip Shenon, “Fear of Attack Cancels Cohen's Trip to Albania,” New York Times,

July 17, 1999; and Alan Cooperman, Stefan Lovgren, Kevin Whitelaw, Richard J. Newman,

101

the extradition of the terrorist cell, a group called Islamic Jihad threatened to retaliate against

Americans for foiling the Albanian bombing: “We inform the Americans . . . of preparations for

a response which we hope they read with care, because we will write it, with God's help, in a

language they will understand.”300

Not long after the threat, in mid-October, two suicide bombers

crippled the USS Cole in Yemen, killing seventeen American sailors. The U.S. News and World

Report tied the bombing of USS Cole with the capture of the Albanian plotters stating that “this

is revenge for Albania.”301

As President Clinton bombed Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden threatened Americans,

President Stephen Lenker, the second full-time mission president in Albania, was faced with the

difficult decision of what to do with his American missionary force in Albania. The Lenkers had

received their call to preside over the Albanian mission in March 1998, later than most calls were

extended because the person who had originally been called had suffered a heart attack. After

spending one night in the first week of July with the previous presiding couple, the Lenkers

began working with their twenty-one man (no sisters had been returned by this point) American

mission force.

One Friday in August 1998, six weeks after their arrival, Sister Nancy Lenker received a

phone call from the United States embassy in Albania. Once she answered the phone, the person

from the embassy declared they had been evacuated due to a terrorist threat and read a message

to Sister Lenker which stated that it was not safe for Americans in Albania and that if possible

they were encouraged to evacuate the country. When she informed President Lenker of the call

Bruce B. Auster, Kenneth T. Walsh, Thomas Omestad and David E. Kaplan, “Terror Strikes

Again,” U.S. News and World Report, August 9, 1998; and Warren Strobel, “A War in the

Shadows,” U.S. News and World Report, December 31, 2000. 300

Cooperman, “Terror Strikes Again,” U.S. News and World Report, August 9, 1998. 301

Strobel, “A War of Shadows.”

102

he in turn called the embassy and an official read him the same statement. With that, President

Lenker called Church headquarters in Salt Lake City for instruction on how to proceed.302

Missionaries Again Evacuated

While awaiting word, President Lenker ordered his missionaries to stay inside their

apartments. The missionaries complied but quickly found staying inside all day to be tedious.

They cleaned their apartments, practiced Albanian and read the LDS Church magazine, Ensign,

but as one missionary said, “There‟s only so much reading in the Ensign you can do.” When they

had to go out on the street the missionaries were directed to try and blend in as much as possible.

They wore jeans and t-shirts with no missionary tags and were forbidden from speaking English

in the streets.303

The following Sunday President Lenker and his assistant Elder Randall Wilson went to

the U.S. embassy in person to try and get more information. They found the embassy locked and

all the personnel evacuated. Marines with grenade launchers and machine guns surrounded the

perimeter to protect the buildings from any attack. While there, they were able to talk with the

regional security officer who had helped to uncover the plot to bomb the embassy. They asked

him if they were safe in Albania and he replied, “Absolutely not.” He then added that there were

known jihadists training camps in Albania and that the participants knew who the missionaries

were and were watching them. Since the embassy had been put on bunker status he opined that

the terrorists would be looking for soft American targets. He warned that the terrorists would

302

Stephen and Nancy Lenker, interview by author, April 18, 2008, Salt Lake City Utah,

notes in author‟s possession. 303

Ryan Stewart, interview by author, June 26, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in

author‟s possession; and Ty Johnston, interview by author, July 28, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah,

notes in author‟s possession.

103

watch the missionaries and then plant a bomb to try and kill them.304

So President Lenker asked

the officer, “Knowing what you know about the situation at hand – if you had a son or daughter

would you be concerned for their welfare?” The officer replied that he would want them to be

evacuated.305

After reporting to Church headquarters, leaders in Salt Lake considered the

information prayerfully and decided to evacuate the missionaries and the Church travel

department began making arrangements for an orderly evacuation.

On Monday morning President Lenker called the missionaries and informed them they

were going to be evacuated. Two hours later half of the missionaries went to the airport for

evacuation. In order not to draw attention to themselves they entered the airport one by one in

regular clothes. Half of the missionaries were evacuated on Monday and the other half on

Tuesday and President Lenker and Randall Wilson left on Wednesday. Since the missionaries

had to leave so quickly, they were unable to inform the members and their investigators that they

were being evacuated again.

For Elders Ryan Stewart and Freebairn the evacuation was an abrupt end to their

missions. They were both present for the evacuation in 1997 and had one month left on their

missions. Elder Stewart requested permission to extend his mission but was informed that he was

going to be sent home honorably instead. The rest of the missionaries were sent to England.

While in the airport they saw for the first time on the news of the Lewinsky scandal. At the

airport in England, officials were hesitant to let the missionaries in because they did not have

visas. Eventually they granted them entrance with tourist visas which did not allow them to

proselyte.

304

Randall Wilson, interview by author, August 14, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in


Stephen and Nancy Lenker Interview.

104

Once in England the missionaries settled in uneasily for a couple of weeks. Sister Lenker

spent a few days in the hospital because after drinking unfiltered water in Albania she had

become very ill and lost 20 pounds in two weeks. Following her hospital stay, President and

Sister Lenker worked in the temple and stayed in apartments on the temple grounds. The rest of

the missionaries were spread throughout different missions in England and worked with English

missionaries. After two anxious weeks, the missionaries were called to different missions

throughout England and they traveled to Italy for a weekend to obtain the proper visas which

would allow them to proselyte.306

For most of the missionaries working in England was initially difficult. For President

Lenker it was hard because his missionaries were spread throughout various missions and there

was not much for him to do without them. For the missionaries it was difficult because they did

not want to leave the people of Albania. England was quite a culture shock to the missionaries.

They were used to being intimately involved with their small branches planning activities and

helping with the organization of the branch meetings. In England, with well established wards

and stakes, they felt less included and essential to the branches. Also the missionaries were used

to a mission of about twenty Elders. All the Elders knew everyone else and they felt more like a

tight knit group. President Lenker was able with such small numbers to be very hands on. He

would do companionship study with missionaries, go on splits with them and counsel with them

regularly. In England the missionaries were in missions with well over 100 missionaries. The

English missions were different and bigger but, Albanian missionaries were careful to point out

that serving in England was not bad, it was simply different. The Albanian Elders were paired

with Elders already serving in England and they worked hard together to build the kingdom.

306

Ibid.

105

Some of the Albanian missionaries were able to participate in baptisms while in England and had

wonderful experiences.307

Returning to Albania

After being in England for a month, President Lenker returned to Albania with Elder

Randall Wilson and Elder Mark Stringham. They surveyed the security and ensured that local

Church leaders were doing well. In order to evaluate how safe missionaries would be, they met

with the Tirana Chief of Police and officers for Albanian secret service. The officers assured the

missionaries that things were under control and that they would be well protected. For the first

couple of weeks in Albania, Elders Wilson and Stringham lived in the mission home with

President and Sister Lenker. Elder Wilson reported that it was very much like being home with

mom and dad. Every Sunday they traveled together to a different branch to speak in sacrament

meeting and consult with the branch presidents. They were impressed with how smoothly the

branches had operated in their absence and how much the branch presidents had grown in

confidence and ability to lead.

After they established that it was safe to return missionaries came back in pairs over a

period of two months. By mid-November all of the missionaries had returned.308

They were

ecstatic when they got phone calls telling them they were going to return to Albania. Since the

ones who returned in November were new to the mission when it was evacuated and were gone

for up to three and a half months some of them had forgotten a lot of Albanian but this in no way

dampened their enthusiasm to return.309

Additionally, the mission received reinforcements from

a new group of missionaries who had been held up in arriving because of the evacuation and had

307

Ty Johnston Interview. 308

Stephen and Nancy Lenker Interview. 309

Ty Johnston Interview.

106

spent the intermediate time in Florida. For the rest of 1998 the missionaries rebuilt relationships

with investigators and reestablished their places in the branches. Throughout their

reestablishment they were careful to keep a low profile as Americans. To do so they taught in

jeans and t-shirts and were careful to speak only Albanian in the streets.310

Refugees Flood Albania

Just as things were getting settled for the missionaries thousands of ethnic Albanians

flooded into Albania in the spring of 1999 fleeing violence in Kosovo. In Kosovo, many Serbian

soldiers and police tortured, raped, and violently killed ethnic Albanians. They also used

helicopter gunships and mortars to destroy Albanian houses and any who stayed behind to

defend them.311

By June 1999 the United Nations estimated that 300 ethnic Albanians had been

killed and 12,000 had become refugees in Albania.312

The refugee tent city in Albania quickly

became a mire of mud. Knowing the poor state of the camp, President Lenker doubled the

service time for missionaries per week and sent them to the camps to help. The missionaries

helped serve food and unselfishly tackled tough jobs like cleaning toilet facilities. The

missionaries, unlike the personnel of most other aid organizations, could speak Albanian, so they

spent time listening to the refugees and consoling them in this difficult time. The missionaries‟

enthusiasm and dedication to service in the refugee camps reflected one of the reasons they

continually had success in helping the Church to grow in Albania. They unselfishly and

consistently gave humanitarian service with no expectation of remuneration. Their service in the

refugee camps helped three Kosovar women to become interested the Church and join. When the

310

Stephen and Nancy Lenker Interview. 311

Rod Norland, “The Wolf is at the Door,” Newsweek, March 16, 1998. 312

Rod Norland and Zoran Cirjakovic, “The Reluctant Warriors Of Slobodan Milosevic,”

Newsweek, June 22, 1998.

107

sisters returned to Kosovo, a humanitarian aid worker and member of the Church traveled to

their homes and taught them the new member discussions.313

The Book of Mormon in Albanian

After most refugees were repatriated, members of the Church in Albania received a long

awaited blessing in November 1999: The Book of Mormon in Albanian. Since the Church started

in Albania members and missionaries had anxiously awaited the arrival of an Albanian Book of

Mormon. With no Book of Mormon in that language the missionaries developed a variety of

ways to help people gain testimonies of the truthfulness of the LDS Church. If the person could

read another language, most commonly English or Italian, the missionaries would simply give

them a copy in that language and let them read it. Some who did not speak any other languages

learned English one word at a time with a dictionary in order to be able to read the Book of

Mormon.314

With other investigators the missionaries used home-grown translations of excerpts

to give to investigators. Usually these were handwritten chapters that missionaries had either

translated themselves or copied from another missionary‟s translation. Frequently, missionaries

would also translate verses and stories in their own words into Albanian as they read aloud for

the benefit of members and investigators. In addition to these tools, the missionaries frequently

assigned investigators to read chapters from the Gospel Principles manual (a collection of basic

doctrines designed for new members) or the New Testament. The first copies of Gospel

Principles were translated by Kosavar Catholic Albanians who were living in the United States.

The translation mentioned things like Mother Mary and the Hyrum Smith picture looked like

313

Stephen and NancyLenker Interview. 314

Arben Vogli Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 1-2, The James


Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Eriola Gjini Oral History, interviewed by

Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 7, The James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division,


108

Enver Hoxha so the first missionaries tore it out of every book they distributed. Overall,

President Kenneth Reber the mission president in Austria who had responsibility for Albania

thought the Gospel Principles book was “pretty weak.”315

However, they were what the

missionaries had and did provide a basis to begin from. Frequently, the missionaries would

encourage those interested to pray about the Book of Mormon. They would tell them that even

though they could not read the book God could still witness to their hearts that it was true

through the Holy Ghost. Many faithful Saints received a witness in this manner.316

The translation of the Book of Mormon into Albanian began before the Church had even

entered the country. In 1988 Gaspar Kici, a non-member professional Albanian translator was

commissioned by the Church to translate the Book of Mormon. In 1992 Stephen Spainhower,

supervisor for the translation, took the completed copy to Albania for members to examine.

There, Spainhower, “Found Mr. Kici‟s translation to be almost flawless Albanian language,

understandable, and beautiful; however, it did not conform well to the literalness policy.” To

help the translation more accurately reflect the English Book of Mormon, Spainhower assembled

a team to review the content and improve the literalness and doctrinal purity. Prinvera Vathi was

one of the first recruited to the team but, after completing 1 Nephi 1-10, she accepted a job with

an airline company, moved to New York, and was no longer able to work on the translation.

Pandi Theodori took over for her but was soon asked to translate the Guide to the Scriptures

which functions as a Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, and Index in one. Since there were very

few qualified Albanian members, it was difficult for the translation supervisor to keep a qualified

315

Kenneth Dudley Reber Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1994, p. 84,



Ty Johnston interview.

109

translation team during 1993 but, by 1994, Brikena Ribaj and Juventila Sinamati were assembled

as the main team members.317

Brikena had been introduced to the Church through her high school literature professor.

Her school was tailored to the linguistically gifted and Brikena specialized in English and

German. When she met the missionaries for the first time they asked her to translate a verse from

an English copy of the Book of Mormon. To her embarrassment, she was unable but she was

fascinated by the language in the Book of Mormon. The structure was unlike anything that she

had been exposed to previously. While discussing language issues with the missionaries the topic

of religion naturally came up and she became interested and committed to be baptized. Before

her baptism a member of the Albanian translation team from Salt Lake City visited Tirana and

tested her linguistic aptitude and chose her to work as a translator. He also gave her a basic

training in performing a content review for the scriptures which seeks for a verbatim translation

while insuring the content is not changed. Brikena and Juventila received packets to translate

through the mission president who was in Switzerland at the time. The size of the packet

depended on the linguistic difficulty of the chapters, for example, packets which more archaic or

poetic material were shorter than others. Since the initial translation had already taken place it

was their job to make corrections. Some parts were satisfactory as previously translated but other

parts required significant revision to the point that there was more red ink on the page then

black.318

When Brikena and Juventila completed their draft, Daniela Kita and Monika Kadi

worked through the book verse by verse looking for key words and ensuring that they had the

317


Brikena Ribaj, interview by author, August 16, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in


110

same meaning in English and Albanian. Finally, the book was reviewed by Blendi Kokona,

Arminda Suli, Brikena Ribaj and Arben Vogli to ensure that Church doctrines were being clearly

and correctly represented.319

Blendi Kokona and Arminda Suli were both attending Brigham

Young University at the time. They would read their assigned sections alone and then meet

together to discuss what they had found. When they felt that a section was correct and they were

at peace about it they would approve that section and move on to another part.320

Brikena

commented that working to translate the Book of Mormon from the age of eighteen to twenty-

three provided “a strong sense of possibility . . . [and] a fresh sense of optimism, a sense of hope

and sense of the Divine that [she] hadn‟t experienced before.” She declared, “Spiritual

nourishment that comes from that setting is incomprehensible.”321

In November 1999 copies of the completed translation arrived in Albania. The

missionaries received the copies of the Book of Mormon during a monthly zone conference and

were moved to tears with gratitude and excitement to share them with members and

investigators.322

Missionaries delivered copies to surprised members in Tirana that same evening.

Members in the city of Elbasan received their copies the following Sunday in Church. They were

overjoyed to be able to read the Book of Mormon in their own language and missionaries were

amazed to see members become reconverted to the Church through the Book of Mormon.

Reception of the Book of Mormon and serious study of its contents strengthened branch

319

Laurel Leroy Holman, Papers 1994-1998, microfilm #1078, Archives Division,

Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah;

and Monica Kadi, interview by author July 30, 2008, notes in author‟s possession; and Blendi

Kokona, Oral History, 23. 320

Arminda Suli, interview by author, August 3, 2008, Spanish Fork Utah, notes in


Brikena Ribaj Interview. 322


111

leadership and commitment of members to the Church and enabled them to use restored gospel

texts more easily in their talks and lessons.323

Reception of the Book of Mormon in Albanian helped missionary efforts. Previously, the

missionaries had been the principal source for all teachings. Now the missionaries could use the

Book of Mormon as a tool that people could touch, hold and, most importantly, read for

themselves in order to gain a witness that they should join the Church. Missionaries held open

houses in the local chapels where they showed hundreds of people copies of the Book of

Mormon in an effort to interest them the Church. They also placed posters explaining the Book

of Mormon all over the cities they were in. With the help of the Book of Mormon Church

membership increased in 1999: 175 people were baptized, more than in any previous year.324

Translation of Temple Ceremonies

Shortly after Albanians received the Book of Mormon, temple ceremonies were also

translated into Albanian. Albanian culture is family centered and the message of eternal families

and sealing ordinances performed in temples had been appealing to potential converts from the

beginning. When Monika Kadi, an early Church member in Albania, first learned about the

temple she deeply wanted to go. When she learned about doing ordinances for those who had

passed away she asked the missionaries if there was a way that somebody could go through the

temple for her while she was still alive. When the missionaries replied that it was not possible to

do ordinances for somebody else while they were alive she was so devastated she cried. She felt

hopeless about getting to the temple because there was no temple in Albania and not many

chances to travel to another. Fortunately, shortly thereafter she was called to serve as a

missionary at Temple Square in Salt Lake City (initially she thought this was a call to clean the

323

Ty Johnston Interview. 324


112

temple and was rather disappointed). Once on her mission (teaching not cleaning) she was able

to go to the Provo Temple and received her own endowment.325

Other missionaries from Albania

were also able to receive their endowment as they embarked on their missions.

In mid-June 1997 the Church assembled a small team to translate the temple ordinances

into Albanian. The team consisted of Monika Kadi, Blendi Kokona, Daniela Kita and Brikena

Ribaj. The translation took place in the Salt Lake Temple and it was a powerful spiritual

experience for those involved. Though they found the task rewarding, they also found it

challenging because of the terminology used in the temple ordinances. After years of enforced

atheism in Albania many religious concepts and words had been forgotten. To translate the

words properly, Monika called older Albanians and asked them about archaic Albanian or

synonyms. With some terms the translators simply created new words or transliterated English

words into Albanian.326

With the words translated, a group of Albanians were selected to record the endowment

into Albanian. A group of fifty Albanians were chosen as candidates based on Church attendance

and testimony. Those fifty then recorded their voices and individuals at Church headquarters

selected the best voices to participate in the official recording. For the official recording the

selected Albanian Saints were brought to the United States and received their own endowment in

the Bountiful Utah Temple. Agim Grimci, who was chosen because of his deep voice, brought

his wife and they were able to be sealed together after they were endowed. All the missionaries

who had taught the selected recorders joyfully participated with the Albanians, demonstrating the

type of love that helped Albanians covert to the Church in the first place. Following their

325

Monika Kadri Kadi Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 25, 33,



Monika Kadi Interview.

113

endowment, the selected recorders traveled to Salt Lake City where they recorded their parts for

the endowment ceremony.327

With the recording completed, Albanian Saints were able to begin

to travel to any temple, receive their own endowments, and be sealed to their families. Today,

most travel to the Frankfurt Germany Temple to receive the ordinances.

Conclusion

Under the leadership of President and Sister Lenker the LDS Church continued to grow

in Albania for several reasons. First, since LDS missionaries began to preach in Albania,

members and investigators have been interested in going to the temple to be sealed to their

families. The translation of temple ordinances into Albanian provided access to this ordinance

and motivated some to join the Church. Second, the translation of the Book of Mormon into

Albanian allowed investigators to explore it for themselves and through personal exploration

become convinced that they should be baptized. Third, during the evacuation members supported

one another and the LDS Church functioned effectively without missionaries. The strong

relationships within the Church were a magnet which persuaded some Albanians to leave other

social networks unite themselves with the LDS congregation.

327

Grimci Family, interview by author, August 11, 2008, Saratoga Springs Utah, notes in


115

CHAPTER SIX: JOINING THE LDS CHURCH

Introduction

As the LDS Church grew from 1992-99, each new member had a unique background and

experience. However, there were certain aspects to each story that form a pattern of conversion.

It started with a whole generation of Albanians growing up without any public manifestations of

religion under communism. Without public practice of religion most Albanians had no

significant ties to traditional Albanian religions (Islam, Catholicism, Orthodox Christian) which

made it easier for LDS missionaries to meet and interest them in the LDS Church. Most

Albanians were initially interested in talking with the LDS missionaries because they were

American but the missionaries‟ kindness and optimism prompted further curiosity. As Albanians

explored the LDS Church for themselves some found things they liked. Some were attracted to

the organized and peaceful manner in which the LDS members worshipped, while others

appreciated the opportunities for friendship and leadership within the Church. Beyond these

attractions Albanian Saints almost universally reported that they chose to join the LDS Church

because of individual spiritual experiences, most of which centered on an increased sense of

divine peace in their lives.

Elimination of Religion

Under Dictator Enver Hoxha‟s regime, religion was systematically eliminated from the

public sphere. Albanians were taught that religion was a second government used by political

116

leaders to brainwash people and keep them in ignorance, darkness, and submission.328

The

government also taught that practicing religion created “foreign attitudes.” In their view it was

unpatriotic to be religious.329

The formal school system reinforced these views by teaching

lessons which proclaimed that God did not exist and that priests just used people for their

money.330

Teachers also proclaimed that the teachings of Jesus and Mohamed were vain

nonsense, mistakes and fairy tales used to hold the poor in slavery to the rich.331

They also

presented, as historical fact, that clerics were involved in collaborating with Nazi invaders. Many

students were also required to read textbooks which argued that religion was opium for the

people, though one student commented that since he did not know what opium was he did not

really get the point.332

The Hoxha government used a strong hand in enforcing the ban on religion. One

Albanian, Qirjako Lula, was told in 1967 that the youth were the ones that destroyed all the

churches in Albania, but he saw the mosque by his house torn down by grown men with a large

tractor. This blatant deception confirmed to him that “people had to hide their religious feelings”

328

Adriatik Jace Rama Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 3, The



Alketa Pernaska Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2-3, The



Daniela Kita Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2, The James



Plarent Toci Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2-3, The James


Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah and Nano Family Oral History, interviewed by



Pandi Paul Theodori Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 3, The


Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah.

117

to be safe. If a person revealed their religious inclination, one witness was enough to send them

to prison333

and some Albanians were known to spy on and witness against their neighbors.334

One such informant was known to plant small microphones in peoples‟ houses or under the seats

of their bicycles and would turn them into the police in return for special favors.335

A person

could be sent to prison for an infraction as small as making red eggs on Easter.336

With such

harsh consequences many Albanians began to keep all religious sentiments to themselves, opting

for instance for silent prayer.337

In the absence of organized religion, some Albanians claimed

Hoxha tried to make himself a god. One reported: “He wanted to nurture the people with the

conviction that he only was the lord.”338

People even used religious terms to describe opposition

to the government; as one had it, “To talk about religious things was considered heresy.”339

As a result of state sponsored atheism, a whole generation of Albanians grew up without

religion. Albanians reacted to the lack of religion in three different ways: (1) indifference, (2)

atheism, and (3) seeking for God. Those who were indifferent simply were not taught anything

333

Qirjako Lula Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2-4, The James



Jason Dean Burgess Papers, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 335

Corey Smith Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 10, The James



Ethington, Tammy Maria and Heather Marie Corrigan Oral History, interviewed by



Suli Oral History, 2; and The Nano Family 4. 338

Ethington, Tammy Maria and Heather Marie Corrigan 13; and Kristiqi Family Oral

History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 6, The James Moyle Oral History Program,

Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

Salt Lake City, Utah. 339

Kristiqi Family, 2.

118

about God in their homes.340

This did not mean necessarily that their parents were atheists, but

rather that they were hesitant to talk about religion and were not active in passing on their

traditional religious ideas or rites.341

These individuals became accustomed to not having religion

because no one else did.342

One woman used a clever analogy to describe the situation. She knew

a man who only had one leg. Frequently, people would ask him what it was like to only have one

leg and he would respond that he did not know because it had been that way his whole life.

Likewise, she stated that she did not really know what it was like to not have any religion

because she did not know any different.343

As for the second group, they saw themselves as

atheists who did not believe in God, the gospel, or any form of life after death and frequently

discouraged others from also believing.344

For the third group, the lack of religion simply

increased their thirst for spirituality. One of these seekers, Ledia Kita felt that the time of

communism “was the worst time, because [Albania] was an atheist country.”345

Another, Plarent

Toci, felt the need for religion because without it he said, “Death scared me.”346

Some started to

believe in and seek for God as a result of the anti-religious instruction they received in school.

Monika Kadi, who had never really thought about religion because her own parents were strong

340

Adriatik Rama, 2. 341

Alketa Pernaska, 2; and Anastas and Sofia Suli, 2. 342

Nano Family, 2 343

Daniela Kita 5. 344

Arben Vogli Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 1-2, The James


Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah; and Entela Galanxhi Oral History, interviewed

by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 10, The James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division,

Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah;

and Kristiqi Family, 2. 345

Ledia Kita Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2, The James



Plarent Toci, 5.

119

atheists, began to feel drawn to God after reading Religion is Opium to the People.347

Eriola

Gjini began to wonder about God after a lesson on evolution. She asked herself if man came

from monkeys and monkeys from plants and plants the earth, where did the earth come from?348

Another Albanian commented that as a young boy he went home and asked his mother if there

was a Lord because his teacher said there was not one and he had felt offended at her statement

even though he had not been taught about God at home.349

Covert Religious Instruction

With government sanctions against religion, faith in God was covertly nurtured by many

grandmothers. In almost every interview of early Church members, Albanians commented that

their grandmother was religious and taught them about God and religious rites.350

Muslim

grandmothers taught their descendants that there was a God and that it was important to know

him. They also taught their grandchildren that Mohamed was God‟s prophet. When one girl

asked her grandmother why there were no prophets today like Mohamed, the grandmother

replied that people now were not worthy of such a blessing.351

Some Muslim grandmothers even

taught their children about Jesus Christ. Another girl, whose parents were both avowed atheists,

remembered her grandmother telling her every night that God was alive.352

Though some Islamic

347

Monika Kadi Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 13, The James


Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah Oral History. 348

Eriola Gjini Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 7, The James



Kristiqi Family, 4-5. 350

Matthew Heiss, interview August 15, 2008, notes in author‟s possession. 351

Alketa Pernaska, 7-9. 352

Entela Galanxhi, 2.

120

traditions were passed on, most Albanian Muslims were only Muslim by heritage. Some were

not even sure if their family was Muslim: it merely seemed probable.353

Where there is usually no tolerance for Christian missionaries among Muslims

throughout the world, this is not the case in Albania. According to one Albanian, “We were not

raised as a religious people, but as Albanian people . . . Albania came first, and religion after

that,” therefore religion has not become an area of conflict as it has in other places.354

With a

peaceful co-existence between Muslims and Christians, Albania is one of the few places in the

world where LDS missionaries teach Muslims. Though there is peace between Muslims and

Christians there is still pressure from some Muslims to prohibit others from joining the LDS

Church. One girl‟s Muslim friend refused to talk to her after she was baptized in the Church.355

Another girl, after she was engaged to a Muslim man, was banned by her family from attending

the Church out of fear that her attendance would offend the groom‟s family.356

Grandmothers were also the principle carriers of religion for Orthodox Christian

Albanians. One way grandmothers taught their children and grandchildren about Christianity was

by dyeing eggs red on Easter. The red was a symbol of Christ‟s blood and the egg the creation of

new life. Together it symbolized Christ‟s power to help a person change their lives.357

After

dyeing the eggs, the grandmothers would bury the shells or wrap them in newspaper and carry

them in the garbage to the other side of the city to avoid getting caught by informants.358

In

addition to red eggs, some grandmothers were brave enough to keep copies of the Bible in their

353

Adriatik Rama, 2. 354

Ledia Kita, 2. 355

Alketa Pernaska, 11. 356

David and Joan Haymond Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p.

20-21, The James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. 357

Eriola Gjini, 4; and Kristiqi Family, 2; and Anastas and Sofia Suli, 3. 358

Jason Dean Burgess Papers.

121

house. One girl tried to read the family Bible but with little practical instruction in religion she

was unable to “get through it.”359

Other courageous grandmothers took their grandkids to

abandoned monasteries to light candles.360

Though courageous and faithful most grandmothers

only managed to pass on rudimentary aspects of religion. If nothing else, they would simply tell

their grandchildren that there was a God and that they should pray to Him and follow Him.361

In

the absence of public religious leaders grandmothers took it upon themselves to be the principle

carriers and transmitters of religious knowledge. Despite their best efforts most were only able to

pass on rudimentary elements of religion, basic facts like there is a God. With, at best, a

rudimentary foundation in religion most Albanians did not feel bound to any one religion. Some

felt drawn to God but few felt bound to a certain sect. This left more Albanians open to listening

to the message brought by the LDS missionaries at the close of communism.

Meeting the Missionaries

Most early Albanian converts were not looking for a new church when they met the

missionaries. Most were introduced to the missionaries through a common acquaintance. Some,

like the Grimci family, met the missionaries through the Suli family, who rented rooms to the

missionaries.362

Others met the missionaries when their member friends invited them and the

missionaries to the same birthday parties.363

Monika Kadi, for example, met the missionaries at a

359

Daniela Kita, 8. 360

Eriola Gjini, 5. 361

Arminda Suli Interview, August 3, 2008, notes in author‟s possession; and Frida

Pazolli Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 2-3, The James Moyle Oral

History Program, Archives Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Ledia Kita 2, 15 and Pandi Paul Theodori 1-4 and

Nano Family 5-6 362

Arminda Suli Interview; and Grimci Interview. 363

Ledia Kita, 16; and Daniela Kita, 7.

122

Christmas party.364

Others met the missionaries after their friends converted to the Church and

made the introductions,365

and some met the missionaries at missionary-led English classes.366

Other Albanians met the missionaries without introduction during the course of their daily lives.

Arben Vogli, for example, was on his way to the Catholic Church one Sunday to tell the priest he

wanted to be baptized. While on the bus he saw a pretty girl, Marinella Kulla, and followed her

to the LDS Church instead. Once there, he loved the meetings from the start, especially the songs

about Jesus. After the meetings he met the missionaries and shortly thereafter decided to be

baptized as a Latter-day Saint. 367

Another family, the Kristiqis, was invited to a baptism by the

missionaries as they were walking through the Palace of Culture.368

One young man, Pandi

Theodori was riding his bike one day and saw two Americans in white shirts and ties and

stopped to ask if he could help them.369

Finally, Qirjako Lula met the missionaries outside his

apartment as he was pondering about what he was going to believe now that he was free.370

As Albanians met the missionaries, most were quickly and deeply impressed by them.

When David and Joan Haymond were called to be missionaries they were asked to “be very

sensitive, make friends, and try to be reasonable in [their] ideals and find something useful to

do.”371

The Haymonds and other missionaries fulfilled this charge by becoming friends and

making good impressions. The Sulis, who were very close to the Smiths, one of the first

missionary couples, were impressed with Charone Smith‟s courage and optimism as she went to

364

Monika Kadi Oral History, 14. 365

Eriola Ginji, 8-9. 366

Entela Galanxhi, 11; and Saim Kokona Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K.

Heiss, 1996, p. 9, The James Moyle Oral History Program, Archives Division, Historical


Corey Smith, 24; and Arben Vogli, 4. 368

Kristiqi Family, 8. 369

Pandi Theodori ,10. 370

Qirjako Lula, 5. 371

David and Joan Haymond, 5.

123

work in the difficult conditions of the dystrophy hospital.372

Those who worked with Charone

Smith there were also impressed with her optimism. Even though she did not speak Albanian, the

workers claimed she always found ways to uplift them.373

Those who worked with Thales Smith

at the pediatric hospital were likewise impressed with his ability and spirit.374

Overall, converts

were impressed with the love and kindness that missionaries showed them. They were also

impressed that the missionaries did not try to force them to get baptized, but rather taught them

with love and invited them to make changes.375

Adriatik Rama echoed the sentiments of many

when he said that he wanted to be like the missionaries. When he contracted a severe case of

pneumonia, the doctor thought that he might die because his lungs were filling with fluid. After

he received a priesthood blessing, which relieved his pain and allowed him time to sleep he spent

time thinking about his life. The things that he most enjoyed remembering were experiences with

the missionaries. Because of their example, he decided to become a missionary himself.376

Though most Albanians enjoyed being around the missionaries, they found many of the

concepts they taught difficult to understand. For example, one Sunday Sister Tammy Ethington

brought an Albanian to Church for the first time. As the sacrament was being prepared she told

him that this was a time to sit quietly and ponder on what Christ had done for them. He turned to

her and asked, “What has he done for us?”377

Likewise, Adriatick Rama found it difficult to

understand how somebody had died for him 2,000 years earlier. Moreover, he did not feel that he

had done anything bad enough to merit someone‟s death.378

Concepts such as prayer, faith,

372

Anastas and Sofia Suli, 8. 373

Arminda Suli interview. 374

Anastas and Sofia Suli, 15. 375

Arminda Suli interview; and Frida Pazolli, 5; and Kristiqi Family, 9. 376

Adriatik Jace Rama, 11, 15-16. 377

Ethington, Tammy Maria and Heather Marie Corrigan, 23. 378

Adriatik Jace Rama, 11.

124

baptism, the Holy Ghost, life after death, and the idea of a corporeal God were all new and

difficult to understand without a Christian background.379

Spiritual Experiences

Though impressed with the missionaries, conversions were largely the result of personal

spiritual experiences. These experiences of divine power enveloped a wide range of phenomena.

For some, participation in the Church simply felt familiar. Doctrines like the pre-mortal

existence and eternal families were comforting and felt like Albanian culture because most

Albanian activities center on their families.380

Others felt increased motivation in their lives to

become better. Others felt a divine power helping them quit using tobacco, coffee and alcohol.

They also felt better able to perform responsibilities that seemed beyond their capacities.381

Agim

Grimci said feeling his life change gave him strength to talk about the gospel with others. He

said, “If I didn‟t feel the quality of my life change I would not be able testify of the gospel.”382

Some experienced more dramatic healings and signs they took as spiritual evidence they should

join the Church. In one instance, the Dena family‟s grandmother was very sick, but after she

received a priesthood blessing she recovered. Her family was baptized in part due to her

miraculous healing.383

Another Albanian, Gago Nano, fell on his electric stove and burned

himself. In his time of need the missionaries came to his house unexpectedly and attended to his

wounds. He interpreted their sudden arrival as a sign from God, which deepened his conviction

in the Church.384

Entela Galanxhi was confused about the many different churches and wanted a

379

Ethington, Tammy Maria and Heather Marie Corrigan, 24; and Monika Kadi Oral

History, 15; and Pandi Theodori, 11; and Plarent Toci, 18. 380

Monika Kadi Oral History, 15; and Monika Kadi interview; and Grimcis interview. 381

Frida Pazolli, 6; and Grimci Interview; and Pandi Thoedori, 12; and Saim Kokona, 12. 382

Grimci interview 383

Corey Smith, 37. 384

Nano Family, 10.

125

clear answer as to which one to join. So she said a prayer and told Heavenly Father that

whichever missionaries came to her house the next day would represent the Church she would

join. In her prayer she declared if the missionaries were Bahai she would choose them. If they

were Baptist she would become Baptist. The next morning, in answer to her prayer, missionaries

for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to her door and she joined the

Church.385

Peace

While there is diversity in the manner in which Albanians receive spiritual confirmations,

the overwhelming majority of converts reported feelings of divine peace as the principal spiritual

experience that motivated them to join the Church. With the chaos of communism and the

emotional instability of economic upheaval many Albanians had a heightened desire for peace in

their lives. Arben Vogli, an Albanian convert said, “Because the people of Albania have suffered

so much, they are really willing to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ.”386

Likewise, Lindita

Grimci said “Absence of religion was like a hole in our lives. It was like there was something

missing.”387

Arminda Suli, who met the missionaries as a teenager argued that, “After communism,

even as a child, you are craving hope.” Arminda said that hope and peace came to her in the

Church as she learned that she was a child of God and that He was mindful of her. However, as a

sixteen year old she wanted more before she decided to join the Church. During one sacrament

meeting, the missionaries got up and sang “The Spirit of God.” Arminda reported, “I had never

felt the Spirit like I did that day. I was speechless and teary eyed and I didn‟t understand why.

385

Entela Galanxhi, 11-12. 386

Arben Vogli, 8. 387

Grimci interview.

126

The singing was beautiful but there was something else that was touching me and I wondered,

„What is going on?‟” Later while reading the Book of Mormon she felt the same powerful

feelings and decided to join the Church. 388

Like Arminda, Adriatik Rama also felt unsettled as things changed from communism to

democracy. He was apprehensive about the unknown. During these political changes and an

intense school schedule he visited a Catholic church for the first time and felt so peaceful that he

began to take pictures so he could remember the feeling. After he met the missionaries, he found

that same peace in the LDS chapel and therefore joined the Church.389

Daniela Kita received her peaceful confirmation while reading the Book of Mormon. The

missionaries asked her to read 3 Nephi 11 but for some reason she read 3 Nephi 13 instead.

While reading she was impressed with the concept of God taking care of the lilies of the field

because she had always been one to worry about her future. As she read she said, “I felt so good

inside. That was an answer to my questions. It was good to know that somebody takes care of all

these things, and I don‟t have to worry much about tomorrow.” She also found peace in attending

the Church meetings. “It was so good. I could read Italian, but I wasn‟t too good at it when

reading the Bible or the Book of Mormon. It was hard, and I couldn‟t understand it very well.

But I loved the spirit in the Church. It was so good, so peaceful, so great.”390

Her sister Ledia

Kita also received a spiritual answer while reading the Book of Mormon. While home alone one

day, she felt so afraid that her hands were shaking. To help, she read 2 Nephi 31. As she read,

her feelings of fear disappeared and were replaced with feelings of divine happiness.391

388


Adriatik Jace Rama, 7, 10. 390

Daniela Kita, 8-9. 391

Ledia Kita, 19.

127

For Alketa Pernaska, when democracy came she read the Bible and learned about Jesus

Christ. As she read the Bible for the first time, “It provided something that isn‟t provided any

more. It was a feeling that I felt throughout my whole body. I knew it was the Holy Ghost that

was passing through my body, and passing through my spirit.” She said she knew she was

supposed to join a church but didn‟t know which one. When she prayed about the Church she

said she felt the same peaceful power which she felt while reading the Bible – only stronger and

she knew she should join the Church.392

Suzana Hasanaj had a similar experience. When she

read the Bible she felt the Spirit. She tried to find the same feeling in a variety of churches but

she only found it again when she read The Book of Mormon. She felt a strong good feeling

inside her which told her that it was true and so she was baptized.393

Arben Vogli said he felt the Spirit giving him peace for the first time while he was

working in Greece. His employer there had not treated him well so he decided to return home to

Albania. As he began his journey, he was worried that he would be accosted by thieves but had a

comforting feeling. In his words, “There was a small voice that told me, „Don‟t worry, I‟ll be

with you.” When he went to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the first time he

enjoyed the meetings especially the songs about Jesus. That night he had a dream of two

heavenly beings and light over his house. He interpreted the dream as confirmation that he

should be baptized. Additionally, when he was with the missionaries he reported, “Not one time

before had I had the feelings I felt when I went with them. It was like I was in the air. There was

great happiness in my heart.”394

392

Alketa Pernaska, 10. 393

Suzana Hasanaj, interview August 15, 2008, notes in authors possession. 394

Arben Vogli, 3-5.

128

Eriola Gjini received her spiritual confirmation at the first meeting she attended The

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the meeting a young Latter-day Saint, Evis Fraka,

bore her testimony of the truthfulness of the Church. At that point Eriola knew that the Church

was true and wanted to stand up also and add her witness but felt too shy. From that point on she

felt “happiness or something very special in [her] soul” that motivated her to join the Church

even though she felt that she did not understand all of the doctrine.395

For Monika Kadi it was simple. As she listened to the missionaries she felt that what she

was hearing was right.396

Plarent Toci was one whose grandmother taught him to believe in God.

She would say things such as, “There is a Lord. There is a Christ.” And he would respond, “No

they don‟t exist, these are vain things.” But as he got older his opinions about religion began to

change. He said that he began to feel that there was a supreme power that would help him on his

tests and that prevented him from doing immoral things. With these feelings, Plarent began to

search for this supreme power. He visited the Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox churches and read

pamphlets from evangelical churches. In his search the one thing that was most important to him

was a copy of the New Testament. As he read he said he began to feel what he later recognized

as the Holy Ghost. It was “a very good feeling, a warmth in my bosom and a feeling like God

was looking down on me.” After reading in the New Testament about Christian unity he began to

search for a church to attend. Since he believed in Christ he did not believe the Islamic faith, he

also did not agree with some of the teachings of the Catholic church and he did not feel the same

peace he felt while studying the New Testament in either the Orthodox or the Disciples of Christ

Church. So he decided to stop looking and just live Christ‟s teachings. When he met the

395

Eriola Gjini, 10, 12. 396

Monika Kadi Oral History, 16.

129

missionaries for the LDS Church he felt the same peace and power he had felt while reading the

New Testament and decided to be baptized. 397

Two older men, Qirjako Lula and Gaqo Nano, who had lived through communism and

atheism, both described the spiritual peace they felt as they discovered the Church. Qirjako Lula

said, “Above all I found spiritual calmness, which I‟d never had in my life before. I‟d never

known who to pray to, who has given me my life, who made it possible for me to have a

family… I have the goal to become perfect and to live eternally with all of my family. I haven‟t

had these feelings before.”398

Similarly, Gaqo Nano related, “I feel so much peace in myself.

Before finding this religion, I thought after I died I would get lost. But now I know that after

death there is life and my spirit will be resurrected. I feel so much peace that I will live together

with my family.”399

Social Networks

The above mentioned accounts of individuals experiencing divine manifestations were

facilitated by social networks. Most of the early converts came from friendships that the early

humanitarian service missionaries had made. The missionaries made friends in their service at

the university or hospitals and those friends in turn introduced them to more Albanians. Not all

of these acquaintances joined the LDS Church but many did. Though most converts in their oral

histories and interviews give credit to divine spiritual experiences for motivating them to join the

Church social networks seem to also have a profound affect. Those who made friends with the

missionaries and or other members of the church tended to commit more easily to baptism. Since

missionaries only stay in a certain area or city for a limited amount of time, those who only make

397

Plarent Toci, 8-14. 398

Qirjako Lula, 6. 399

Nano Family, 14.

130

friends with the missionaries soon loose that acquaintance and tend to stop attending Church in

spite of past spiritual experiences. Those who develop strong social ties not only with the

missionaries but with other members of the Church tend to remain actively involved after the

missionaries leave to other areas or when they experience significant difficulties. If social

networks are one of the significant reasons for joining the Church they are also one of the

significant reasons for leaving the Church. Old friends of new members often invite them to do

things which are against Church commandments but acceptable in Albanian culture like Sunday

shopping400

or coffee or alcohol drinking.401

As members are presented with these situations they

feel torn despite previous spiritual experiences and many leave the Church. As social networks

develop within the Church disagreements occur. Some members unfortunately are offended and

stop coming to Church. Most other churches have paid clergy to care for the worshippers and

regulate congregational unity. The LDS Church is run completely by laypeople. Since the

Church is so young and many of the converts are either young men or women, it has been

difficult to find qualified priesthood leaders.402

Qualified men are usually called to leadership

positions within a matter of months after being baptized.403

After their appointment they are in

charge, among other things, of helping members of their congregations form meaningful social

relationships with each other so that they will continue to come to Church after the missionaries

who taught them leave. One missionary noted that those Albanians who made friends with

400

Arben Vogli, 12; and Eriola Gjini, 16; and Pandi Theodori, 17; and Qirjako Lula, 8;

and Saim Kokona, 14. Monika Kadi interview; and David and Joan Haymond, 28. 401

Corey Cragun Oral History, interviewed by Matthew K. Heiss, 1996, p. 14, 17, The



Corey Cragun, 14; and Corey Smith, 6; and Plarent Toci, 20. 403

Grimci interview; and Saim Kokona, 12; Gazmend Abdyl Kongoli was called into the

branch presidency the day he was baptized see “The Truth” dated March 27, 1995, Archives

Division, Historical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake

City, Utah.

131

active members of the Church tended to remain active themselves.404

Also, those members who

had support of family and friends were more likely to continue coming to Church405

In addition

to forming meaningful social relationships within the Church Arben Vogli, an Albanian member,

said he felt it was important to learn more about the gospel everyday and continue to keep the

commandments in order to maintain a strong testimony of the truthfulness of the Church.406

According to another early member, Arminda Suli, “If you are going to Church and have a

responsibility you are really invested” and will continue to come.407

Gerta Grimci is evidence of

the importance of having a responsibility within the Church. Before she was even baptized she

was called to be the branch pianist. When she would not want to go to Church at times, in order

to go to the beach or some other activity, her parents would remind her that she committed to

play the piano and needed to go.408

Albanian Saints tended to agree that continuing to attend Church meetings and practice

gospel principles has helped reaffirm, in their minds, the decision to join the Church was correct.

Arminda Suli, for example, declared:

Everything I have done I can attribute to the Church. It has given

me comfort away from home and a way to cope with difficulties. It

has given me direction and comfort that Heavenly Father is

mindful of me. It is amazing to see Him lead my life. I think he has

really led me and I don‟t think my life would be the same without

that guidance. The Church is not just something you do on Sunday;

it is how you live, who you are and how you get answers. I could

not ask for a better thing in my life. My life will never be the

same.409

404

Corey Smith, 48. 405


Arben Vogli, 10. 407

Arminda Suli, interview. 408

Grimci interview. 409

Arminda Suli interview.

132

Conclusion

Early LDS experience in Albania demonstrates the importance of positive relationships

and responsibility within conversion. Though each convert to the LDS Church reported some

sort of spiritual experience as the catalyst for their conversion these experiences are hard to

measure and impossible to control. What future missionaries can control is the relationships they

create with converts and members. Early Albanian Saints appreciated the kindness and optimism

of early missionaries. These characteristics are attractive to Albanians whose situation

economically and politically often appears bleak. These positive social relationships created a

strong pull for Albanians to join the LDS Church. Another aspect within the control of

missionaries is the ability to give members responsibilities within the Church. Responsibilities

reinforce that an individual is needed and useful within the organization. Helping individuals feel

cared for and needed seems to supplement individual spiritual experiences and encourage

Albanians to both join and attend the LDS Church.

134

CHAPTER SEVEN: EPILOUGE

Growth

The LDS Church has grown steadily in Albania since the first missionaries entered the

country. The total number of people joining the Church each year in Albania is nowhere near the

totals in African countries like Ghana and Nigeria or Latin American countries of Brazil or

Mexico. The growth, though modest by global comparison has been steady. From 1993, the first

full year that missionaries were in Albania, through 2006 the Church grew by an average of 125

members per year.

Year Number of People Baptized

1992 40

1993 107

1994 153

1995 101

1996 109

1997 77

1998 93

1999 175

2000 96

2001 136

2002 145

2003 148

2004 149

2005 124

2006 135

Additionally, the Church is growing much more in Albania than its immediate neighbors Greece

and Serbia. Likewise it has outpaced the other Eastern European countries of Croatia, Latvia,

135

Slovakia, Belarus, Estonia, Romania, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and the Czech Republic.410

The following chart shows no other country besides Latvia and Ghana come close to equaling

the Albanian Church‟s growth rate.

Country Members 2000 Members 2007 Percent Increase

Albania 881 1,730 96%

Africa

Ghana 18,630 36,242 94%

Nigeria 49,935 83,919 68%

Latin America

Mexico 884,071 1,121,893 27%

Guatemala 179,258 210,101 17%

Brazil 775,822 1,018,901 31%

Chile 509,592 548,726 7%

Europe

Greece 515 661 28%

Serbia 203 (2001) 275 35%

Croatia 319 503 57%

Latvia 508 966 90%

Slovakia 105 (2001) 124 18%

Estonia 551 927 68%

Romania 1,770 2,672 50%

Hungary 3,448 4,380 27%

Lithuania 554 833 50%

Poland 1,173 1,527 30%

Czech Republic 1,680 2,028 20%

Uk 177,917 181,756 2%

Germany 36,359 37,159 2%

France 30,912 34,638 12%

Italy 19,188 22,633 17%

As the number of members has grown, missionaries have expanded the areas they work in from

the original cities of Tirana and Durres to also include the cities of Schoder, Vlore, Fier, Elbasan,

and Lushnja.

410

Membership and Statistical Records Division of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-

day Saints, Membership and Unit Statistics by Country/State and Area, 1992-2007.

136

Challenges

As in other locations, as the Church grows in Albania it continues to face three main

difficulties. First, many strong Church members leave Albania for better economic opportunities

in America and Europe. Many talented and young first-generation members in Albania found

their way to the United States for either missions or schooling or both. Once established in

America, they found opportunities for economic stability and career advancement which were

unavailable in Albania. Many also married Americans. The combination of marriage and money

made staying in America a logical step which several have taken. The same can be said for

Albanians who traveled to Europe. Second, there are not enough qualified priesthood leaders to

run the Church. In some instances qualified leaders have been baptized, ordained to the

priesthood, and called to leadership positions all in the same day. As in other areas of the world

many of the people interested in the LDS Church are young or women. It has simply proven

difficult to attract many men to the Church. A more concerted effort to befriend trustworthy men

would help alleviate the leadership shortage in Albania. Third, the major difficulty remains

retaining converts. Since creating strong friendships with missionaries is one of the main reasons

Albanians choose to join the LDS Church it is not really surprising that when these missionaries

leave to work in other cities or return to their homes that new converts stop coming to Church. In

order to increase retention of new members they need to become linked socially with other

members of the Church. Strong friendships with other members will mean that new converts will

continue to feel cared for after missionaries leave and will therefore continue to attend Church

services.

137

Conclusions

This steady growth was due to the combination of Albanians seeking more stability in

their lives and missionaries working in a way which created friendships and opportunities for

personal spiritual experiences. Though essential to growth this combination is in no way unique

to Albanians. Their desires for more strength in their lives stemmed principally from a

historically repressive government regime, social upheaval, and economic instability. While

other countries have experienced similar episodes Albania provided a unique context in which to

establish the Church. Though there have been other religiously repressive regimes, the

government‟s efforts to make Albania the first atheist country in the history of the world and

eradicate every aspect of religion from the country make it unique.411

Additionally, other regimes

may limit worship to one particular religion, but they do not seek to systematically exterminate

all aspects and outlets of the divine from their country. Albania is unique in the measures the

government took to eliminate all religion from their country. That unique repression, coupled

with poverty, economic instability and social upheaval created a context where many Albanians

needed something upon which to found and anchor their lives. In the midst of chaos they craved

peace. When missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints learned Albanian to

communicate effectively, performed humanitarian service to build trust, and helped Albanians

feel loved through individual teaching and attention they provided opportunities for Albanians to

have their own spiritual experiences and find the peace that they were seeking. This format is far

from unique. Every missionary sent out for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is

trained to follow the previous pattern in their teaching. The opening years of missionary work in

Albania is not an argument for a revolutionary new way of teaching and serving, but rather is

411

Jacques, The Albanians, xi-xii.

138

evidence that the established pattern for performing missionary service works. Create warm

friendships and put people in a position to try the gospel message for themselves. Once that

occurs, investigators have opportunities for personal spiritual experiences and can decide

whether or not to join the Church. Consistent growth with the LDS Church is possible in

turbulent conditions; in some cases it may even be probable as those who experience difficult

circumstances seek for peace through religion and find it in the friendships, experiences and

teachings of the LDS Church.

140

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